Breastfeeding puts extra demands on a new mother's nutritional stores. Her body needs 500-600 more calories a day when breastfeeding, as well as a rich supply of micronutrients for the growing baby.

Breast milk is the very best food for babies, providing all their nutritional needs for the first six months and helping protect them from infections and disease in later life. Breastfeeding is better for mothers too. It's sterile and on tap! The action of breastfeeding helps the womb contract after the birth and makes it easier for mum to get back into shape.

Best food for breastfeeding

So much time is spent feeding and caring for the baby that it can be difficult for new mothers to find a moment to eat. Quick nutritious snacks that can be eaten with one hand are ideal and a multivitamin supplement can mean that there's one less thing to think about.

• Lots of fruit and vegetables - aim for five portions a day
• Starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice and potatoes to give you the extra energy you'll need.
• Plenty of fibre, found in wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, pulses and fruit and vegetables. After childbirth, bowel action can be disrupted and constipation is particularly painful, but fibre helps with both of these.
• Protein such as lean meat and chicken, fish (especially oily fish) eggs and pulses (beans and lentils).
• Dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yoghurt, which contain calcium, are also a useful source of protein.
• What not to eat - The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has advised breastfeeding women not to eat more than 2 medium-sized cans of tuna or 1 fresh tuna steak a week. This is in addition to the earlier advise to avoid eating shark, swordfish and marlin. It is thought that the mercury present in these fish can potentially harm an unborn child's nervous system.