| Course | NS325 Nutrition Through the Life Cycle |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Lactation guidance memo |
| Length | About 820 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Nutrition Science |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NS325 Unit 3
What the Evidence Backs and What Gets Passed Along Anyway: A Unit 3 Lactation Guidance Memo for Library Support Group Facilitators
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NS325: Nutrition Through the Life Cycle
Unit 3 Lactation Guidance Memo
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The library, support group and facilitators are composite; the dietary reference intake reports, breastfeeding policy statement, human milk review and alcohol review cited are real.
Memo
To: Volunteer facilitators, Tuesday Breastfeeding Circle. From: NS325 student volunteer. Subject: Answering common questions about eating while breastfeeding.
Purpose: Mothers ask you about food every week. This memo gives you a short, sourced answer for the most common questions, so you can reassure where the evidence supports it and point to a lactation consultant or dietitian where it does not.
How Milk Is Made
Milk production is driven mainly by removal. Prolactin, released when the baby nurses, signals the breast to make milk; milk left in the breast signals it to slow down. This is why how often and how completely milk is removed governs supply in nearly every case, and why most food-based advice about supply misses the point. A mother's diet affects some nutrients in her milk, but rarely how much milk she makes.
Because removal rather than diet controls volume, the most useful answer to almost every supply question a facilitator hears is a question about how often the baby is nursing, not about what the mother is eating.
Questions About Supply
Established: frequent, effective nursing or pumping builds and maintains supply. A mother concerned about supply should be referred to a lactation consultant, who will assess latch and feeding frequency.
Passed along anyway: "Drink milk to make milk." Cow's milk does not increase breast milk. "Drink a gallon of water." Drinking to thirst is enough; extra fluid beyond thirst has not been shown to raise supply. "A beer helps the milk come in." Alcohol does not increase supply and may reduce the letdown reflex (Haastrup et al., 2014). "Oatmeal and fenugreek boost supply." Evidence for these is weak, and fenugreek has side effects; refer questions to a lactation consultant.
Questions About the Mother's Own Needs
Established: energy needs rise by about 330 kcal a day in the first six months and about 400 in the second six months (Institute of Medicine, 2005). Iodine needs rise to 290 mcg a day, higher than in pregnancy (Institute of Medicine, 2001). Choline needs rise to 550 mg a day (Institute of Medicine, 1998). Many mothers continue a prenatal vitamin.
Passed along anyway: "Breastfeeding burns so much you can eat anything." The added need is real but modest, roughly a small meal. "You need to eat for two." That was not true in pregnancy either.
Questions About What Passes Into Milk
Established: levels of some nutrients in milk, including iodine, vitamin B12, choline and vitamin A, track the mother's intake. Others, including calcium, iron and folate, change little with her diet, because the body maintains milk levels even at the mother's expense (Dror & Allen, 2018). A vegan mother needs a reliable B12 source for her baby's sake.
Passed along anyway: "Avoid spicy food, onions and broccoli or the baby will get colic." Flavors do pass into milk, and babies may notice them, but there is little evidence that specific foods cause colic. Mothers do not need to avoid foods routinely; if a baby seems consistently upset after a particular food, she can discuss it with the baby's doctor. "Avoid peanuts and eggs so the baby won't develop allergies." Avoiding allergens while breastfeeding has not been shown to prevent allergy.
Questions About Caffeine and Alcohol
Established: alcohol passes into milk at about the same concentration as in the mother's blood and leaves milk as blood levels fall. An occasional drink is compatible with breastfeeding if the mother waits before nursing; "pumping and dumping" does not speed removal (Haastrup et al., 2014). Moderate caffeine is generally considered compatible, though some young babies may be sensitive.
Passed along anyway: "Any alcohol means you must pump and dump for a day." Timing matters, not discarding milk.
How to Use This Memo
Answer from the established column. When a mother's question falls outside it, or when she is worried about supply, weight gain or a baby's reaction, refer her to the lactation consultant who visits on the first Tuesday of each month, or to her own provider. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises feeding only human milk until about six months of age and continuing to nurse, with family foods added, to the second birthday or beyond (Meek et al., 2022); our role is to help mothers keep going with accurate, calm answers.
What Facilitators Should Not Do
Do not suggest herbs, supplements or medicines to increase supply. Do not tell a mother to stop eating a food without a doctor's advice. Do not judge a mother's choices about formula or weaning.
References
Dror, D. K., & Allen, L. H. (2018). Overview of nutrients in human milk. Advances in Nutrition, 9(Suppl. 1), 278S-294S. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmy022
Haastrup, M. B., Pottegård, A., & Damkier, P. (2014). Alcohol and breastfeeding. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, 114(2), 168-173. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcpt.12149
Institute of Medicine. (1998). Dietary reference intakes for thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, biotin, and choline. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/6015
Institute of Medicine. (2001). Dietary reference intakes for vitamin A, vitamin K, arsenic, boron, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, vanadium, and zinc. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10026
Institute of Medicine. (2005). Dietary reference intakes for energy, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein, and amino acids. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10490
Meek, J. Y., Noble, L., & Section on Breastfeeding. (2022). Policy statement: Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics, 150(1), e2022057988. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-057988
Reading the NS 325 Unit 3 instructions
The Unit 3 memo asks students to prepare guidance on maternal nutrition during breastfeeding for a defined audience. Prompts usually ask what the evidence supports, which common beliefs are unfounded and where readers should be referred. Identify the audience and what they need. Open with how milk is made, because it answers many questions before any food is mentioned. Group questions by type rather than by food. Give each established answer a source and year. Grant whatever is true inside a common belief before correcting it. Send medication and supply concerns to a lactation consultant or prescriber. Keep the tone practical. Three to four pages in memo format is usual.
How this NS325 Unit 3 example is built
The memo begins with a memo block and a two-sentence purpose. A physiology section explains that removal drives supply. The highlighted sentence gives facilitators a single rule for supply questions. Supply questions come first: drinking milk, extra water, beer and fenugreek are each addressed. The mother's needs follow, with energy, iodine and choline values from the reference intakes. A section on what passes into milk separates nutrients that track her intake from those that do not. Caffeine and alcohol close the question groups. The memo ends with guidance on using it and three things facilitators should not do. Each answer is short enough for a volunteer to repeat in a group.
Reading the NS325 Unit 3 grading rubric
Lactation memos are usually graded on accuracy, appropriate sourcing, fit to the audience and clear limits on scope. Points go to explaining milk physiology before addressing food questions. Distinguishing nutrients that follow the mother's diet from those that do not shows depth. Correcting myths with evidence, while acknowledging what is partly true, earns credit. Referral points should be specific. Format and citations count toward the grade. Memos that list foods to avoid without evidence usually lose accuracy points. Telling volunteers what not to do is often credited as good judgment. A memo that a volunteer could actually carry into a meeting is usually judged more favorably than a long report. Naming the next professional for each kind of question also earns credit.
NS325 Unit 3 help from the desk
Lactation memos often jump straight to foods and never explain how supply works. Another weakness is repeating myths, such as avoiding spicy food, as if they were established. Some writers give supplement or herb advice beyond a volunteer's role. Sources are often blogs rather than reviews and policy statements. Nutrients in milk are treated as all depending on diet, which is not accurate. The audience is forgotten, so the memo reads like a textbook. Referral points are vague. If you know the common questions but are unsure how to sort them, group them by supply, the mother's needs, what passes into milk, and caffeine and alcohol. A writer can draft the memo around those groups.
Get an NS325 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
The reader decides the format, so name the audience specified for Unit 3, whether a support group, a clinic's front desk or a new mother herself, and attach the instructions and rubric plus any claims your section wants tested. Both columns are then built for that reader and sourced row by row. The first custom sample is free and takes 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More NS325 papers and BS in Nutrition Science samples
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- NS325 Unit 5: Growth Chart Interpretation
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- NS325 Unit 8: Older Adult Case Study
- NS325 Unit 9: Meal Plan and Rationale
- NS325 Unit 10: Life Cycle Synthesis Paper
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NS325 Unit 3 questions, answered
Is it acceptable to say a common belief is wrong?
Yes, provided the memo shows the evidence and the reason the belief persists. Readers who hear a claim dismissed without explanation tend to keep it. The stronger rows grant what is true inside the myth, for instance that flavors really do pass into milk, and then separate that fact from the rule people built on top of it.
Where should medication questions go?
Out of the memo and toward the prescriber or a pharmacist. LactMed, the NIH database on drugs and lactation, is a legitimate source to name so readers know where professionals look, but interpreting an entry for a particular mother is not a nutrition task. A single sentence routing the question tends to satisfy the rubric.
Do milk-boosting herbs belong in the table?
They often come up, so a row for them is reasonable. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine's protocol on galactogogues describes the evidence for fenugreek and other herbal products as limited and notes possible side effects. The memo can report that assessment with its year and send any mother considering them to a lactation professional.
Where can I find a free NS325 Unit 3 sample paper?
This page has a complete Unit 3 memo for breastfeeding support group facilitators, sorting common eating questions into what the evidence supports and what is passed along anyway.
Does a mother's diet change her milk supply?
Rarely. Supply is driven mainly by how often and how completely milk is removed. Diet affects levels of some nutrients in milk, such as iodine, B12 and choline, more than it affects volume.