Feeding time

Hollywood mum Madonna will be keen to regain the curves that made her a fashion and style icon and a legion of other celebrity mums, from Carol Smillie to Spice mums Posh and Scary, all made a virtue out regaining their figures almost overnight, it seemed.

But being a celebrity is one thing. Their image is their livelihood. Normal mums, says Sue Garland of Mothercare.com, should not feel pressured into regaining their previous slim figures straight away.

"Shaping up after having a baby is not something which should be rushed into by any mother," she says. "Never underestimate the changes that have happened to your body and never be hard on yourself. Someone like Madonna will be thinking about getting her figure back immediately, but for many women that is too much of a pressure."

Actually, says York Health Trust midwife Elizabeth Ali, you will naturally return to your normal weight over the year or so after giving birth - especially if you're breast-feeding your child.

Extra reserves of fat are laid down during pregnancy so a new mother has plenty of stores built up to feed her new baby. But dieting is not advised: Elizabeth says new mums, especially if breast-feeding, should actually eat more than normal - she recommends about 200 calories extra every day - because making breast-milk is a high-energy business.

"If you're not eating more than about 200 calories extra, then you do lose that weight," she said. "By the time you have weaned the baby, at about nine to 12 months, you should be almost back to normal."

Adele Boswell, from Dunnington, says it took her six months to get down to her normal size - an 8/10 - after giving birth to Max, her first child, eight months ago. She found after giving birth she'd put on getting on for two stone. But despite eating well and regularly to keep up her milk - she breast-fed Max - she lost that weight relatively quickly.

She also took some gentle exercise, she says - taking Max for walks in his pram and attending some classes in Pilates, mainly to help her relax. But basically just looking after Max was exercise enough.

"It doesn't take long to get your weight down" she says. "If you have an active baby who doesn't sleep very much, and you're running the house and feeding yourself as well, you're on the go 24 hours a day!"

Mum-of-two Lucy Hjort breast-fed both her children - Amy, now six, and Sarah, three - and had a voracious appetite after giving birth. "When I was breast feeding I was very hungry and very thirsty," admits Lucy, spokeswoman for the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) in the York area.

"Diet is very important for a new mum. There is a lot of physical energy used up, and also a lot of emotional energy used up. If you don't feed yourself, you can't cope."

So what is a healthy diet for new mums? Adele's diet after giving birth - recommended by her midwife - included a breakfast of cereal, toast and orange juice, a milky drink and biscuit mid-morning, jacket potato or soup and sandwich for lunch, fruit at 3pm, a proper, sit-down evening meal and sometimes a late evening snack.

Elizabeth Ali says the important thing is to have a normal, healthy balanced diet, with plenty of protein and carbohydrate, and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Especially if you're breast feeding, don't be worried about eating slightly more than you would normally do. It is also important to drink plenty of water.

The British Nutritional Foundation recommends that additional vitamins and minerals are also important. Breast-feeding mothers, it says, should get an extra 550 mg of calcium a day - which means eating plenty of dairy products - as well as additional phosphorus, magnesium, zinc and copper, which are all found in meat, dairy and fish. Vitamin D is also an important part of the diet.

u Your own midwife is the best person to go to for advice on a healthy, sensible diet for you. The British Nutrition Foundation website - www.nutrition.org.uk - also contains useful information on diet and nutrition.