Saturday, June 27, 2015

Increasing your milk supply

I delivered baby J via Caesarian section 31 months ago.  I remember starting my breastfeeding journey in the recovery room of the hospital, with my journey lasting for all of 27 months.


I never once had a problem with low milk supply during my breastfeeding journey.  In fact, my problem was the other way around.  I had too much milk that baby J vomited on a daily basis due to overfeeding.  Her satiety center was still immature so she didn't know when to stop feeding.


I never thought myself lucky that I had adequate milk supply.  I thought this was the normal course for every post-partum woman.  Until, I met many women whose problem was milk supply.  When people find out that I nursed baby J for a full 27 months, I am often asked what I did to increase my milk supply.  I cannot guarantee that this will work for everyone, but for my part, these are the things I did to ensure I had enough milk supply:


1.  Make sure you drink lots of fluids.
2.  Make sure you take calcium supplement.
3.  Let your baby latch on as often as you can.
4.  Try to express milk in between the baby's feedings.  If your body feels that the demand is high, it will try to increase its supply. Make sure you invest in a good breast pump.  This will go a long way.
5.  Eat lots of horseradish (malunggay  Moringa oleifera).
6.  Take supplements such as Fenugreek.
7.   Drink natural cocoa 2-3 times per day.  Chocolate is known to be a galactagogue.


Some people even go as far as taking medications to boost their milk supply.  I did not want to do this since there are medications which may be passed on to the baby via the breastmilk.  So, breastfeeding moms need to be very careful with food and medication intake.


Breastfeeding has not been an easy task.  There will be pain, there will be times when you will want to stop because it's 24/7 work, you will have to bring your breast pump with you wherever you go, there may be different nipple and breast complications.  But, what kept me going for more than two years was knowing how much it would benefit my daughter.  That alone was enough reason for me to endure everything and persevere. 


Now that I am getting ready for my second baby, there is no question that I would do everything I did for baby J all over again.  Breast pump ready. Breastfeeding bags on standby.  Purelan cream on standby.  Cold nipple compress ready.  Bring it on!  Excited to go on another breastfeeding journey.









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