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Fostering the health of your developing baby while maintaining your health and wellness is easier said than done, and complications can be incredibly nerve-wracking, especially given the concerning state of Black maternal health in the country. But Black women may find some much-needed pregnancy support from a food group the community often avoids: dairy.
Research from the National Medical Association (NMA) — the largest and leading organization of Black American doctors — shows that regular intake of dairy foods like milk, cheese, yogurt and kefir and the nutrients they provide may improve fertility and help reduce the risk of pregnancy-related health issues such as gestational diabetes and pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders, benefiting the short- and long-term health of the parent and child.
This is one of many reasons dairy avoidance in the Black community can be troublesome. Yet avoidance remains prevalent among prospective Black mothers — the same NMA research finds that Black females of childbearing age have the lowest average intake of dairy foods compared with other racial and ethnic groups. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Read on to learn how dairy foods may help support healthy pregnancies among Black women — from parents’ fertility to baby’s delivery and mother’s recovery — and why it’s helpful to maintain the recommended daily dairy consumption as a dietary staple even after pregnancy.
Dairy Can Help Support Fertility and Hormone Health
Regular dairy consumption can translate to improved fertility, and in many ways, it all boils down to dairy’s nutrition and its ability to support and nurture hormone health.
“Optimal hormone health (of both mom and dad) is absolutely essential for fertility,” says Tamara Melton, MS, RDN, LD, founder and lead dietitian of LaCarte Wellness. “Dairy contains nutrients such as calcium, iodine, and vitamin D that support healthy hormones. Fermented dairy products, like kefir and yogurt, contain probiotics, and all dairy foods have protein, which is important for overall health and fertility.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean Black adults wanting to have a baby need to consume all the dairy they can find. Simply meeting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommendation of three dairy servings per day can go a long way.
“For women looking to support fertility, I recommend full-fat dairy — with an emphasis on kefir and yogurt, as these come with the added benefit of probiotics,” Melton says.
Full-fat dairy foods offer the same nutrition as lower-fat options, but some research suggests dairy-derived fats may positively impact fertility.
How Dairy Supports the Health of Pregnant Moms and Their Babies
Pregnant women are quite literally eating for two (and sometimes three, four or more). So, as Melton explains, they have greater nutritional requirements to support their baby and sustain their own health. And with 13 essential nutrients, dairy milk, including lactose-free dairy milk, is a nutritional powerhouse of a food group, helping meet both needs.
“During pregnancy, dairy foods like yogurt, milk, lactose-free dairy milk, kefir and cheese provide many essential nutrients that have been found to be essential for a healthy pregnancy, including calcium, protein, vitamin D, choline and iodine,” says Yolanda Lawson, M.D., a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and former president of the NMA.
This last nutrient, iodine, plays a particularly vital role. Melton describes it as “a critical nutrient for the development of the baby’s brain and nervous system.” And it’s immensely important for the mother’s health too, helping support maternal metabolism.
Significantly, iodine is a nutrient that our bodies can’t make — it must be consumed. Fortunately, dairy is a fantastic source. In fact, dairy is easily one of the biggest contributors to iodine intake in U.S. girls and women. One of the multiple reasons dairy proves valuable during pregnancy; and why many Black women would do well to add more of it into their daily diets.
“The evidence strongly suggests that consuming dairy foods supports healthy pregnancy outcomes, including improving maternal nutrient status, promoting healthy pregnancy weight gain, and lowering the risk of gestational diabetes and pregnancy-related hypertension,” Lawson says. “Yet many women in the U.S., especially most Black American women, are still not meeting daily recommendations.”
How Dairy Helps with Recovery After Pregnancy — and Full Family Health
A mother’s nutrition needs remain higher than normal for a significant time after delivery, especially throughout the breastfeeding stage. The nutrients provided by dairy can help support moms postpartum, similar to how they support their health during pregnancy.
Dairy intake also helps support the health of newborns during what is a crucial growth period, both during and after breastfeeding.
“The nutrition a growing baby receives from its mother, as well as the foods and drinks a baby consumes early in life, are critical to its brain development, gut health and strong immune system,” Melton says. “Gut health and immunity are developing during these early days. In fact, giving babies yogurt as a first food (typically at around 6 months) is a great way to get in probiotics and support their gut microbiome development.”
As children grow and develop, dairy consumption remains an important component of health and well-being. This is true not just for mother and child, but for dad and anyone else in the family. Dairy is shown to support holistic health and wellness, and is even linked to helping lower the risk of many diseases and conditions prevalent in the Black community. So, just as dairy may help support the start of healthy Black families, it can also benefit health throughout life.
“In my practice, I look for the root causes of diseases, or ‘almost’ diseases (like prediabetes), and work with clients to address those causes,” Melton says. “Dairy contains nutrients that, along with lifestyle modifications, can reduce the onset of insulin resistance and inflammation — the root causes of many conditions, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. These debilitating conditions are common in Black families, and that is why I do not hesitate to recommend dairy to the whole family.”
Learn more about dairy’s role in the health and wellness of Black families at usdairy.com.
