Does breastfeeding help me lose weight postpartum?

Verified by Dr. Vaishali Sakpal Rane (MBBS, DGO Obstetrics and Gynaecology, DNB Obstetrics and Gynaecology)

One advantage of nursing that many moms value is unrelated to children. Breastfeeding can speed up weight loss and help you regain your pre-pregnancy figure, but it's crucial to understand that this benefit isn't guaranteed. Some mothers find that shedding baby weight takes time and needs more than simply breastfeeding.

You won't immediately lose any more weight if you breastfeed. Your first weight loss is due to the combined weight of the baby, placenta, amniotic fluid, and extra water in the first few weeks, which totals roughly 6-7 kg. But nursing will speed up the process of your uterus contracting and returning to its pre-pregnancy size.

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By the time you are six weeks postpartum, your tummy should appear a lot more trim while you are nursing. Following that, research suggests that mothers who exclusively breastfeed are more likely than women who do not breastfeed to lose their pregnancy weight by roughly six months after their kids are born.

500 calories can be burned each day during breastfeeding. In other words, you can still lose weight even if you're probably eating more to keep up nursing.

You should lose roughly 1 pound on average every two weeks or so if you're nursing exclusively and consuming the correct number of calories each day. While losing that little weight might not seem significant, doing it gradually and steadily is safer and healthier. Additionally, if you lose weight gradually, it's more probable that you'll keep it off.

If nursing isn't assisting you in the manner you had intended, you could be persuaded to step up your weight reduction efforts by doing more than that.

But trying to reduce weight rapidly by following a rigorous low-calorie diet is not advised when you are nursing. By limiting your food intake, you run the risk of depriving your body and breast milk of vital nutrients. A reduction in your breast milk production may result from drastically reducing your calorie intake.