Once the baby is born, women no longer have to avoid sushi as it is safe to eat while breastfeeding. Eating fish, whether raw or cooked, can provide several benefits to both a breastfeeding woman and the breastfed baby.
Those that are commonly available include salmon, shrimp, Pollock, tuna (light canned), tilapia, catfish, and cod. Avoid the seven highest-mercury fish. Bigeye tuna, king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, and tilefish are not recommended in any quantities for breastfeeding women.
Most fish contain some level of mercury. When a mother eats fish, the mercury in the fish can be passed into her breast milk. However, the benefits of breastfeeding may be greater than the possible adverse effects of exposure to mercury through breast milk.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that those who are pregnant or breastfeeding eat 8 to 12 ounces (2 to 3 servings) per week of a variety of fish lower in mercury. Fish should be eaten in place of other protein sources, such as some meat and poultry.
The current guidelines suggest that pregnant women can safely eat three servings a week (up to 12 ounces total) of shrimp, salmon, catfish, and other fatty fish. It's even safe for most pregnant women to eat sushi in the U.S., provided it's prepared in a clean environment.
Foods like beans, broccoli, cauliflower, or some dairy products can cause fussiness, gassiness, or colicky behavior in some babies. Foods like cow's milk, soy, wheat, corn, oats, eggs, nuts and peanuts, and fish or shellfish are common allergy-causing foods.
To prevent adverse reactions in the baby while breastfeeding, it's recommended to avoid consuming citrus fruits, cherries, and prunes. Citrus fruits have been associated with digestive problems, fussy behavior, vomiting, and diaper rash in breastfed babies.
Fortunately, there are lots of lower-mercury seafood options that are safe for breastfeeding women. ACOG actually encourages breastfeeding moms to eat 8 to 12 ounces of fish a week. That works out to be roughly two to three servings per week. The FDA and EPA's “best choices” list of low-mercury fish is extensive.
Acidic foods like citrus fruit and tomatoes, spicy or strong-flavored foods, and “gassy foods” (like broccoli and cauliflower) are often associated with baby gassiness and fussiness.
Naturally high levels of iodine in brown seaweed mean that people can become ill if they consume a large quantity of this type of seaweed. Because of the potential to cause illness FSANZ advises pregnant and breastfeeding women; and children, to eat no more than one serve a week of brown seaweed.
Avoid: High-Mercury Fish
One food that you absolutely want to steer clear of while breastfeeding is fish high in mercury like tuna, swordfish and mackerel. Even in small amounts, mercury toxins can pass through breast milk to your baby and affect their brain and nervous system.
Consumption of raw foods by nursing mothers does not pose a serious problem for breastfeeding infants, although there is the potential for the mother to suffer from food poisoning.
Avoid the following sushi while pregnant:
Ahi (yellowfin tuna) Aji (horse mackerel) Buri (adult yellowtail) Hamachi (young yellowtail)
Indulging in too much caffeine, alcohol or smoking: All your vices might definitely give you a temporary high but will harm your breastfeeding routine irreparably. This is because caffeine, alcohol and tobacco can all affect your milk supply adversely.
If mom is gassy, can that make baby gassy? No. Gas in mom's body cannot pass into breastmilk.
Babies can develop allergies to foods that you are eating while you are breastfeeding. There are no recommendations to avoid any food while you are breastfeeding to prevent allergies.
For breastfed babies, gas might be caused by eating too fast, swallowing too much air or digesting certain foods. Babies have immature GI systems and can frequently experience gas because of this. Pains from gas can make your baby fussy, but intestinal gas is not harmful.
Some reasons why your fed baby cries after feeding can include acid reflux, food sensitivity/allergy, gas, formula, or colic. You should not breastfeed every time your baby cries. Instead, it's best to let the baby tell you when it's had enough flow of milk.
In fact, the FDA encourages moms-to-be to eat two to three servings of low-mercury fish every week. So those cooked sushi rolls, like tempura? Perfectly fine to eat while pregnant, as long as the fish is low in mercury and has been heated to 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
Be smart about sushi and sashimi.
Better sushi and sashimi options (with lower mercury contents) include salmon, eel, scallop, squid, trout, octopus, abalone and shrimp. One 6-ounce serving (about 6 pieces of sushi) counts as one of your two weekly seafood meals.
The researchers noted that caffeine is believed to cause blood vessels in the uterus and placenta to constrict, which could reduce the blood supply to the fetus and inhibit growth.