FoodNet

A manual of home-making

1919

Page 245

Presented as published in 1919. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
normal. This does not mean that the food for the prospective mother is uiiinifK>rtiint. It is liiKlily important that she should have an ade<iuate and weU-bahinciHi dietary. She needs it to kf^ep her eflieiericy anil to [jroduee an elfieient child. It Khouhl be her prol>lein to maintain a normally efficient diet» increasuig it toward the close* of the period. Foods needed by the prospect ive mother arc: (1) Milk. From a pint to a quart of milk a day should l>e used to supply lime, efficient protein^ and the two growth-essi^ntial sulislaiiccs. (2) Cereals made from the whole ^rain should be used to supply enerpry, protein, and iron, and to increiise the laxative sub^l^nces in the diet. (3) Fruits and ve^etableH. To idve flavor, needed salts, lime, iron, and laxative sulistanees, fruits and vegetableis an* essential. CJreen vegetables are esiK^ciall}' valuable for the iron that they supply. (4) Meat or ej^s or cheese. Once a day meat» ej^gs, and ehee^se may be u.se<l, altliough they art* not needed if the mother reeeives fully a quart of milk. (5) Bread and buttpr. The dietary may be eonipleted with liread and f>utter. It is of t'speeial importance that the diet of the pro- spective mother should be laxative if she has any tendency to constipation. FOOD FOR TTTE NITll.SrNG MOTHER The food need of the nursing mother is increased in proportion to the amount of milk she produces and the child eon^iumes. It has b<'en estimated that her food n«*<*ds are incrfasinl iis followit: For the first 3 months alxmt 90 calories for each ij<jund of tlio bal)y*s weight For the st»cond 3 months about 85 calories for each pound of tho baby's weight For the third 3 months; about 80 calories for eiieJi pound of the l»aby*s weight For the fourth 3 months about 70 calories for each pound of the baby's weight. This means a marketi increase in the mother's energy needs* For exatuple, if the baby weighs 10 pounds when it is a month old, the mother must increase the calorie value of her diet 10 PLANNING THE DAILY MEALS 435 times 90 calories, or about 900 calorief^, A (juart of milk, an eg^* two pieces of bread, and an extira allowance of vegetables will iR'eornpIish thin. The mot heii's iliet, must supply not only more energy but also more protein of good quality, more lime, more phosphorus^ more iron, and more of the two essential unknown growth- promoting substanecis, or so-c^alled vitamine^. If the diet of llie mother dcK^s not supply efficient food, slie cannot manufac- ture sufficient milk of good quality to meet the needs of the baby. Two of the best foorLs to increasi^ the amount of protein, lime, phosphorus, and growth-promoting substances in the diet are milk and eggs. Eggs give in arldition eonsiderable iron. The diet of the nursing mother should be laxative, and con- sequently fruits, miJti-flavored vegetables, and breakfast foods and breads made from the whole cereal grain should play an important part. There is no troth in the old Huperstition that fruits in the diet of the mother produce cohc in the baby. FORMlTLu-VS FOR INFANT FEEDING