Can You Eat Shellfish While Breastfeeding?

You may be a seafood lover but must be avoiding it during pregnancy as you are unsure about its safety. While the benefits and risks of consuming seafood in pregnancy are much discussed, you could be thinking if it is safe to eat shellfish while breastfeeding? Shellfish include oysters, mussels, scallops, crabs, prawns, and lobsters, to name a few. If you like relishing them and want to know their impact on the baby, keep reading our post to know the safety, risks, and health benefits of eating shellfish during pregnancy.

Can You Eat Shellfish While Breastfeeding?

In most of the cases, a moderate amount of shellfish causes no potential harm to you and your breastfed baby. However, you can be allergic to seafood and suffer from health discomforts including skin rashes or eczema. But, if you have no family history of seafood allergies, you can continue nursing and eating shellfish in your diet. The main thing to remember is to store and cook the shellfish properly (1).

Potential Risks Of Shellfish While Breastfeeding

If you have a family history of food allergy, consult your doctor before including shellfish in your diet during breastfeeding. If you are allergic to seafood and especially shellfish, you may notice your feeding baby to develop some allergic symptoms including:

  • Skin rashes
  • Trouble breathing
  • Skin itchiness
  • Diarrhea

In such circumstances, consult your pediatrician immediately and stop consuming shellfish. Moreover, if you are eating improperly cooked or stored shellfish, such as undercooked prawns or oysters, you are more prone to suffer from food poisoning. Suffering from such food infection can affect your milk production, and the antibiotics are not at all safe for your feeding infant.

Health Benefits Of Eating Shellfish While Breastfeeding:

The nutritional value of seafood is high for pregnant or lactating mothers. Seafood contains vital nutrients like omega-3 fats, which are greatly beneficial for both you and your baby. Omega-3 fats from shellfish serve as healthy fats and can improve the development of the nervous seen of the breastfeed baby. Some of the beneficial shellfish to be included in your diet includes:

  • Salmon
  • Mussels
  • Trout
  • Sardines
  • Herring

Shellfish can be a part of your healthy diet, and consuming 8-12 ounces of properly cooked shellfish can improve health conditions for both you and your baby.

Shellfish is extremely low in saturated fat and supplies adequate amount of iron, to keep your body energized while breastfeeding. Iron also protects your body from harmful and disease-producing infection. The Vitamin B¬6 in shellfish promotes healthy brain development (2).

Points To Remember:

  • Every human has their own unique risk to allergens. If a mother has an allergic reaction to shellfish it does not necessarily mean the infant will as well. It may increase the risk that the infant will also have food allergies to shellfish, but it will not induce a reaction in the infant,
  • Eat 8 – 12 ounces of shellfish every week, to acquire an adequate amount of Omega-3 fatty acids. The beneficial element can improve your baby's visual and cognitive development.
  • If the shellfish smells bad, it is a sign that the fish is no longer in edible condition. Discard such fish immediately to avoid the onset of food poisoning.
  • Cook all shellfish at elevated temperatures, as undercooked or raw shellfish can cause severe health diseases. Cook lobster and shrimp until the meat inside the hard shell becomes opaque. Cook mussels and oysters until their outer shells are fully open.

Various types of seafood, including crabs, oysters, and shellfish, are known for their delectable taste, increased omega-3-fatty acid, and iron content. However, due to the much-discussed side effects of seafood, you may be wondering if you could consume shellfish while breastfeeding. You may include this seafood in moderation in your nursing diet, provided you follow some crucial precautionary steps and choose only fresh and well-cooked shellfish to eat. Nonetheless, if you experience any allergic reactions in your baby following its consumption, you should seek immediate medical care.

References:

MomJunction's articles are written after analyzing the research works of expert authors and institutions. Our references consist of resources established by authorities in their respective fields. You can learn more about the authenticity of the information we present in our editorial policy.

  1. Safe selection and handling of fish and shellfish.
    https://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/safe-selection-and-handling-fish-and-shellfish
  2. Ondine van de Rest et al.; (2012); B vitamins and n-3 fatty acids for brain development and function: review of human studies.
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/48514610

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Jessica Albert is a passionate writer who seeks to connect with her readers through wit and charm. Her work aims to invoke curiosity and keep the readers engaged through and through. She has prior experience working with magazines and e-commerce establishments as a content marketer and editor. Being a mother herself, she puts all her knowledge into creating content about... more

Julie Matheney did her Master's degree in speech-language pathology and has worked on feeding and swallowing disorders for over a decade. As part of a hospital-based rehabilitation team, she works on helping children to feed and swallow. Having worked in the NICU, she discovered her passion for breastfeeding and became an IBCLC in 2017. She transitioned out of the hospital... more