The Truth About Milk Supply

[maggiemom2000]

The Truth About Milk Supply

It seems to be a constant worry in our modern society, “Do I have enough breastmilk for my baby?”  We hear the stories all the time.  “I tried to breastfeed, but I couldn’t make enough milk,” or “My milk never came in,” or “My milk suddenly dried up."

Unfortunately, the majority of time it is not due to a physical problem, but misinformation that leads to not enough milk.

But aren’t there REAL reasons why a mom can’t produce enough milk?  Yes, there are and they probably effect somewhere between 3-10% of mothers.  Here are some of the most common:

Not enough breast tissue:  Some women do not develop enough breast tissue when they go through puberty.  The breasts are often small, and odd shaped.  These women will often not notice any changes to their breasts when they are pregnant.  It is common for these women to have breast implants, trying to “fix” their small misshapen breasts.

Breast Surgery:  When breast tissue is removed, during a breast reduction surgery, it can affect mom’s ability to breastfeed.  With any breast surgery, milk ducts can be cut. affecting milk supply.  The good news is that milk ducts can “re-grow”.  Many moms who could not provide a full supply to their first baby will be able to with baby number 2.

Hormones: Moms with a hormonal imbalance, like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) may have trouble producing enough milk.  Women who had a hard time conceiving may have hormonal imbalances that affect milk supply.

Low thyroid and the use of hormonal birth control are couple of other common causes of low milk supply.

Suck Dysfunction:  If baby is not able to suck properly and remove milk from the breast, the result will be a low milk supply.  This can be due to weak suck, poor latch, or tongue tie, to name a few.

Most women don’t have low supply due to the reasons above.  It is usually due to the baby not nursing enough to establish a good supply.  To put it simply, the more milk that is removed, the more milk the body will make. How does this happen?  For some reason, baby is not at the breast removing enough milk.

The most likely cause is early formula supplements.   Moms are told baby isn’t gaining enough, or baby has jaundice and needs formula supplements.  In most cases, baby simply needs to be put to the breast more frequently, and perhaps make a little adjustment in baby’s latch.

Some babies do need supplements. Too often, mom is not told that the first option is to pump and supplement with her own milk.  If mom can’t provide enough  breast milk to supplement, then she needs to pump whenever she gives the formula supplement. Even in those rare cases where baby really does need a formula supplement, mom is not told how and when to wean off or stop giving the supplement.

Baby really needs unrestricted access to the breast in those first 3 weeks, when the body is “primed” to learn to make enough milk.  After around 3 weeks it is much harder to bring in a full supply of milk.  Formula is one way this “system” is interrupted.  Other ways are excessive visitors in those early weeks.  Mom needs lots of time alone with her baby for them both to learn about breastfeeding.  This is hard to do when visitors are coming and going.  Another roadblock is schedules.  It is not uncommon for a new born to nurse for 20 minutes, and then 10 minutes later be ready to nurse again.  Mom is often told “He can’t be hungry, he just ate”, or “You’ll spoil him”.  Mom may worry she will overfeed the baby (almost impossible to do when breastfeeding a newborn!), or she may take it as an indication that baby is not getting enough milk and offer formula.

Baby fills up on formula and spends less time at the breast.  Baby spends less time at the breast, so mom produces less milk.  Mom produces less milk, so mom gives more formula, and it goes on until mom is no longer making enough milk for her baby.  This is a common cycle for moms to get into when they TINK they don’t have enough milk, but actually do. It is a lot harder to do this cycle in reverse!  Not impossible, but harder!

So how do you know if you have enough?  What do you do if you don’t have enough?
There are some great resources out there:

How can I tell if my baby is getting enough milk?

How Can I Increase My Milk Supply?

Lowmilksupply.org

Breastfeeding After Breast and Nipple Surgeries

Hidden Hinderances to a Healthy Milk Supply