Dealing With Low Milk Production: Tips To Help You Breastfeed

Health & Medical Blog

When you find out that you are expecting a baby, you immediately begin to plan your future with your new child. This includes your plan for childbirth and, of course, for feeding your newborn baby. However, sometimes your body is not ready to keep up with the plans you have made, particularly when it comes to breastfeeding. If you are among the many women who have difficulty with milk production after the birth of your child, you may wonder what you can do to get your body back on track with your plans. Get to know some of the ways that you can deal with low milk production so that you can be more successful in your efforts to breastfeed.

Use a Breast Pump

Part of the reason that some women suffer from low milk production is the fact that their newborn baby is not latching on and feeding often enough to really get the milk flowing. And even if your baby is attempting to feed often, this still might not be enough to jump start your system into action. 

Using breast pumps can be an effective way to get your body to produce more milk. Breast pumps are manual or electric machines that mimic the act of breastfeeding a baby and essentially pull the breast milk out of your body. 

This artificial nursing that a breast pump creates stimulates your body to produce more milk because there is more demand for it. If you are having a great deal of difficulty with milk production, you should select a double breast pump and use it every few hours. The more often you pump, the more your body will respond. 

And, of course, all of that milk you pump can be frozen for later use or to bottle feed your baby until your milk production increases enough to make breastfeeding comfortable for you and your newborn baby. 

Herbal Remedies or Prescription Medications

There are numerous herbal remedies that may be helpful in stimulating milk production along with the use of a breast pump every few hours. One of the most popular herbs used by women looking to increase milk supply is known as fenugreek. 

Fenugreek seeds are the part of the plant that are consumed by people to help with various health issues, including low milk production. It is available at health food stores in pill supplement form or can be found in some teas. Other herbal remedies that may be helpful for low milk production include red raspberry leaf and blessed thistle. There are specific teas that combine some of these herbs for increased milk production in nursing mothers.

In addition to herbal remedies and pumping, there are also prescription medications available to women who may still need help getting their milk production to the desired level. Often, these medications are used as a last resort by doctors as there are undesirable side effects for the mother including depression and irritability. 

Now that you have a few ideas of how to increase your milk production, you can get started in trying these methods out yourself. If you still continue to struggle, you can seek help from lactation consultants and your doctors to ensure that your baby is getting the nutrition they need from you. 

For more information about using breast pumps, contact a company such as M-D Choice Medical Supply.

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11 September 2015