We had a really interesting inquiry from a lactation consultant, who had been trying to find information to give her new mothers of multiple births, regarding how much they need to eat to maintain their own nutrition AND produce enough milk for multiple babies.
We have a great resource for that, inCYSTer Chris Wittmer, in Dayton, Ohio. Chris works for a medical practice that manages high-risk pregnancies. Chris' great answer is posted below. I wanted to share it with our readers, so that others looking for this information don't have to work so hard to find it. Enough of you are undergoing procedures that increase the chances of multiple birth, I wanted to be sure that from beginning to end, mother and babies are well fed!
I linked to the book in case anyone wanted to find it without an inordinate amount of hunting.
Thanks so much, Chris, and I hope this helps!
There are very few"official" recommendations for nutrition for mom while breastfeeding multiples, but Barbara Luke, who is the"guru" of nutrition for pregnancy with multiples has extrapolated some numbers/recommendations for a singleton mom to multiples. They are included in her book:"When You are Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads", 2nd edition, chapter 10.
The overall caloric recommendations are
--1000-1200 calories additional for twins (500-600 calories per baby),
--1500-1800 additional calories for triplets and
--2000 to 2400 additional calories for quads.
For twins her recommendation is 3200 calories/day and 160 g protein/day, keeping the distribution of calories approximately 40% carbohydrate, 20% protein, and 40% fat. Elizabeth Noble recommends about 3000 calories/day for twins (400 extra per baby The calcium needs are the greatest-increasing by 50%, so that would be in the range of 3000 mg/day.
Other important nutrients include Omega 3 fatty acids, Zinc, and Iodine. It is extremely important for mom to eat adequately or her milk supply will be diminished. Eat nutrient dense foods frequently to help get in the needed calories and nutrients and continue to drink adequate fluids-preferably milk, juice or water. I don't know if any of this will be helpful, but as has been said before, it is a subject that has not been addressed adequately in the literature. There is a need since the incidence of multiples is rising.