A few months ago we published an entry in which we explained that studies said that during pregnancy only those vitamins that a woman needs individually should be taken, and folic acid during the first trimester as a supplement of proven benefits.
Iodine was optional for those women who did not receive it in sufficient quantity through the diet, iron according to the values in the analytical and vitamin D, depending on the individual situation of each woman (where she lives, basically) .
Now, the big question was left for after the pregnancy. What to drink when you are breastfeeding? In the pharmacy they sell specific multivitamin supplements for breastfeeding that can cost about 15 euros (you have for a month), which in most cases are unnecessary because the only ‘vitamin’ necessary for breastfeeding is iodine .
Just in case, take everything …
Surely you have heard this phrase on more than one occasion. The mother doubts the quality of her milk, she has heard that there are supplements to make it as nutritious as possible and when she goes to the pharmacy and finds someone who wants to sell or asks a health professional that is not up-to-date, they tell her this : “Just in case, take this, it takes it all.”
And the woman pays because the health of her baby is priceless and there would be nothing harder than having a poor quality milk, not very nutritious, because of not spending the money.
But this is not true. Come on, it’s a lie directly: all mothers’ milk is good, unless they eat absolutely nothing, and then not only the milk worries, but their ability to take care of a baby, because it will be a malnourished mother.
But since the women who go to the pharmacy to buy supplements are not malnourished, but have food at their fingertips, there is no possibility that they have poorly nutritious milk.
And the strongest thing is that this has been known for more than 30 years: a study carried out in 1985 in Bangladesh compared the breast milk of 60 mothers in a peri-urban area, with nutritional deficiencies, in order to know if they produced a la sufficient quantity of milk and if the quality was as poor as his diet.
They found that they all produced enough milk for their babies and observed that women with better nutrition produced nutritionally better milk, with more fat, energy and nutrients, but concluded the following:
Although the mothers were poorly nourished compared to international reference populations, their ability to breastfeed was not seriously affected.
That is to say, despite the mother’s poor nutrition, the milk was still sufficient and the nutrients valid to raise a baby , and it is advisable to improve the mother’s nutrition to ensure the baby is supplied. In our environment, it would only be logical to take multivitamins if the mother has an unbalanced diet (and the first recommendation would be to improve the diet, not because of milk, but for her health).
Are you breastfeeding? You should take iodine
During pregnancy, as we have said, the use of iodine is not protocolized at the national level, although it is (or should be) taken into account that its deficit can affect the thyroid function of both the mother and the baby, and the neuropsychological development of the fetus .
This means that pregnant women should be asked about their daily intake of iodine through the diet, and if it is insufficient, inform why it is important to consume iodine or a supplement.
As we read in the Clinical Practice Guide for Pregnancy and Puerperium Care (the protocols that Spanish hospitals should follow):
Pharmacological supplementation during pregnancy with potassium iodide at a dose of 200 μg / day is suggested in those women who do not reach the recommended daily amounts of iodine intake with their diet (3 servings of milk and dairy products + 2 g of iodized salt) .
However, during lactation the issue of iodine becomes even more relevant, because the iodine that the baby receives through breast milk is dependent on the amount that the mother receives, and because it has been seen that the iodine deficiency affects the psychomotor and intellectual development of children , and in Spain there are many who have this deficit.
For this reason, based on available studies, it is recommended that women take an iodine supplement throughout breastfeeding . The Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics establishes that said supplementation would be as follows:
The iodine needs of lactating women are estimated at 250-300 µg / day. Since salt intake can be reduced in this period (iodized salt is the recommended source of iodine for everyone), a supplement of 200 µg of iodine per day in the form of potassium iodide is recommended during breastfeeding. , whether you are breastfeeding a single child, twins or siblings (tandem breastfeeding).
And how much does iodine cost?
“It’s a business, I won’t take it,” a mother told me when I explained that it was an official recommendation. And yes, of course there is business behind many recommendations to pregnant and lactating women; Without going any further, we have just explained one: the business of multivitamins , which as you can see are unnecessary (and in some cases they could even be counterproductive).
But iodine does not seem so business if we consider that a box of iodine pills has a price of about 4 euros (it does not arrive) and 50 come. Come on, with the 15 euros that you spend in a month on a multivitamin for breastfeeding you have iodine pills for almost seven months .
Of course, you earn money with it, but it is very little in reality, and the difference is that with iodine you are receiving something that is recommended for you and your baby , when with the rest you are paying for substances that most women do not they need because they already receive them through food, especially if they follow a balanced diet.
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In Babies and more | The importance of iodine during pregnancy and lactation, Iodine in lactation, also essential, Iodine in pregnancy: why is it important?
