Dr. Cheryl Lovelady Interview

In this interview, we sit down with Dr. Dr. Cheryl Lovelady. Dr. Lovelady has a Ph.D. in nutrition and is professional in the field. She is currently a retired professor from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her past, published research focuses on nutrition and women’s health with an emphasis on nutrient needs during lactation, as well as nutrition and exercise. We are so fortunate she took the time to be able to speak with us!

Abby: Hi Dr. Lovelady! Thanks so much for joining us. Can you introduce yourself and speak a little about your research and how you got into this subject?

Dr. Lovelady: I graduated undergrad from UC Davis with a major in nutrition and a minor in exercise science. My main advisor while I was there was Kay Buie who did research that focused on breastfeeding and pregnancy. This research started at a time when doctors were telling women not to breastfeed. After initially getting involved in this research, I switched my mindset in 1985 and focused more on breastfeeding and exercise. I came to UNCG in 1992 and continued my research here. This is when we conducted a study comparing breastfeeding performance to those who exercised or not. I also performed a study that compared breastmilk volume and composition, in which no difference was noted. I am now retired and enjoy continuing following advancing research in the field.

Abby: What advice can you give to new mothers who want to balance breastfeeding and lactation?

Dr. Lovelady: It is important to recognize that there are 2 groups of postpartum women – those who exercised in the past and through pregnancy and those who are attempting to start exercising post pregnancy. Those women who exercised during pregnancy have an easier time jumping right back in to exercise postpartum. They tend to know their bodies well and don’t need much guidance. However, for women that are starting to exercise post pregnancy, they need to worry more about establishing breastfeeding first, then exercise can come second. This is because stress impacts breast milk volume. I recommend starting exercise around 1 month postpartum. This is because the hormones of pregnancy are still around during 4-6 weeks after pregnancy. Additionally, the ligaments that loosened for birth are still this way up to 4-6 weeks after birth. I would suggest starting to briskly walk first and then gradually build up over time. A warm up of 5 minutes, then 15 minutes of 60% of target heart rate, followed by a cool down. This can be built up until the main exercise is 45 minutes. This routine should be done as much as possible, but it is important to maintain a clear mental health state.

Abby: What do you say to mothers who have concerns that breastfeeding will impact their milk?

Dr. Lovelady: This only concerns you if you are exercising in excess. However, it is important to keep your calorie intake high. A woman needs extra calories during lactation – up to 300 calories/day. Exercise is needed to mobilize fat stores from pregnancy and it is possible to not lose weight or even gain weight from nursing. In fact, those who gained too much weight during pregnancy or were overweight before pregnancy have a harder time losing weight during lactation. It is beneficial to start an exercise program 4-6 weeks postpartum with monitored weight loss to lose 1lb a week + baby weight loss. Eating enough is key. It is also important to note that stress or fatigue can also affect milk volume. It is important to listen to your body and take it easy on yourselves. You have a whole life in front of you, but you don’t have your whole life to take care of a new baby.

Abby: What is normally the cause when an infant won’t drink a woman’s milk who is exercising? How long should mothers wait after exercise to breastfeed?

Dr. Lovelady: In my experience, I have never had a baby refuse breastfeeding after exercise. In the study where this is noted, mothers did a max exercise test where they could exercise no longer. This caused an influx of lactic acid in the blood, which also seeped into the breastmilk, causing the milk to change taste. This study is “false” info since in reality new moms are not exercising until exhaustion. The same study was performed with normal exercise (70% of max heart rate for 30 minutes) and the babies nursed with no problems. There was also no change in the breast milk. In fact, exercise didn’t affect breast milk volume or composition and the babies grew fine. The mothers in the study ate a lot of calories and in fact, the volume of the breast milk was normally affected before the composition. With that being said, don’t diet or become calorie deficit when breastfeeding since it is so crucial that you maintain your nutrients to feed your infant. As a result, the max exercise study results can be disproven and I actually wrote a letter to the editor trying to get them to take this paper down, as it caused many alarms in nursing and exercising mothers. There are no changes in immunological factors in breast milk and you don’t have to wait for a certain time to breastfeed after exercise.

Abby: What do you tell new mothers that state they do not have enough time to breastfeed?

Finding time is hard. However, with a supportive father/partner it is possible. Ask them to watch the baby so that you can exercise for 30-60 minutes. You can also take the baby in a stroller. Feel free to join a new moms group for exercise. If you wait for a month postpartum and then plan to do it at a certain day and time, it is a lot easier to keep up with since it is on your schedule.

Hope you enjoyed,

Abby and Madison

Sources: Verchick, Abby. “Dr. Lovelady Interview.” 11 Apr. 2019.