Natural therapy for Breast-feeding?

[amy323]

Does anyone have any suggestions to boost milk production naturally? My client is recovering from mastitis 2 weeks post-partum and is seeking anything "natural" to help bring back milk as it was prior to the infection. She's using the 'mothers milk' tea but wanted to know of anything else she could try.

Suggestions??

Thanks,

[brilliant]

eat oatmeal. this is the first advice i give to anyone and it works *most* of the time. i did it myself when i was pumping and it worked incredibly well.

[brilliant]

and i've had some friends who had great success with fenugreek.

[amymaew]

artificial maple syrup, oatmeal (not instant), fenugreek

[aetrusty]

The mother's milk tincture works much better than the tea. It's stronger. She could try that.

[DoulaYvonne]

Many new mother's are concerned, unecessarily, about their baby not taking in enough. Make sure she counts wet and poopy diapers - approx 6-8 wet diapers and at least 2 poopies per day. Those numbers will let her know that baby is getting enough.

If she wants to boost milk supply:


#1 Take a "babymoon"! Tuck in that babe and nurse, nurse, nurse. The most efficient pump fails in comparison to how well a baby can milk a breast.

#2 Steel-cut oatmeal - not instant - a bowl maybe once a day, she can add anything to it that she'd like. If working she should notice a difference in less than a week. If not, it can't hurt!

#3 Make sure latch and positioning is correct - actually this really SHOULD be #1

#4 Try to offer both breasts at a feeding. Let baby nurse as long as is actively sucking on 1st breast

#5 try breast compression

#6 Avoid pacifiers, artificial nipples (if possible), water, etc

#7 fenugreek, either alone or with blessed thistle

Last resort - prescription meds

Let us know how things work out!

[earthgirl]

I just found a handout Breastfeeding Solutions by Lisa Goldstein I got at a LLL Conference 2005 It reads:

Lactuca Virosa: a true galactogogue (milk production booster) really helps when there isn't much milk, it is not an immediate reaction like some remedies are, you need to keep taking it, but it really does help! As does Borage Tea (or tincture) and my friend Alfalfa Tablets (I tell women , take 6-8 alfalfa tablets before going to bed and call me in the morning, that usually does it, they wake up full).

[betterbirths]

I am taking this out of the "Childbirth Manual" book6-8 glasses of milk or juice daily
lots of alfalfa sprouts
Fennel seeds( boiled in barley water)
Blessed Thistle
Borage (seeds and leaves)
Marshmallow root
Anise oil- few drops in hot water with lemon
basil, cumin, dill, false unicorn root
Lots of nutritional yeast for the vit B complex

From "Having a baby naturally"
Fenugreek tea

From "Herbal Remedies for Women"
Oatmeal, seeds, nuts, whole grains, peas, and sprouted seeds.
Milk Thistle
Vervain
goats rue
vitex
nettles
Fennil dill and anise are good if baby is colicky

that is the best I could do with the books I own....

OK can someone tell me what oatmeal does for milk production?????

[amymaew]

Quote:

Originally Posted by betterbirths OK can someone tell me what oatmeal does for milk production?????[/color]

That was a great list! I don't know how oatmeal does it, but it increases milk supply. It can't be instant though - it has to be regular gotta cook it on the stove top kind. hth

[celebratelife!]

My mom also told me to drink a beer to help letdown. I don't if it actually works, but if nothing else, it might help relax mom which is always beneficial.

[raeben]

Quote:

Originally Posted by celebratelife! My mom also told me to drink a beer to help letdown. I don't if it actually works, but if nothing else, it might help relax mom which is always beneficial.

hops and barley are both good galactagogues. drinking a good hoppy, malty beer in the evening was one of the most immediately effective things that i do to increase my supply. my absolute favorite was laurelwood free-range red organic beer but i don't know if you can get it outside of portland.

[raeben]

here is my recipe for "lactation chai" - it takes a bit of work but its very yummy and works well for supporting lactation. i often pre-mix the herbs/spices and give it to clients postpartum.

Ingredients: (all of this is kind of an approximation so feel free to adjust the proportions to your taste)
- 4 to 8 cups water
- 1 Tblsp of fennel seeds
- 1 Tblsp of fenugreek seeds
- 1 Tsp of vitex (aka chaste tree berries)
- 1 Tsp of cardamom seeds (not pods)
- 1 Tsp of whole cloves
- BIG dash of ginger
- small dash of cinnamon
- 4 to 6 teabags or 2 to 3 Tblsps of good (O.P.) black tea (decaf or regular)
- Milk, cream or soy to taste
- Sugar or sweetener to taste
Instructions: (it's a lot easier than this sounds, I'm just being detailed)
- Boil water
- Coarsely grind fennel, fenugreek, vitex, cardamom, and cloves (this is optional - I use an old, clean coffee grinder)
- Boil all the spices (but not the tea) for 5 to 15 minutes (5 min. if ground, 15 min. if whole seed)
- Add tea and boil for another 5 minutes
- Strain
- Add milk or cream or soy to taste (generally enough milk or soy to almost double the volume, but with cream you use a lot less and have a
stronger tasting tea)
- Add sugar or sweetener to taste (you don't need much).
- Serve hot or iced
- Refrigerate remaining tea for up to a week.
Other Information:
- Do not give this tea to a woman who is engorged.
- This is a good tea for anytime after the engorgement period when the mom wants to encourage or support a healthy and abundant milk supply.
- If the nursing mother actually has an insufficient supply, additional herbs or herbal tinctures might be used.
- The fenugreek (in quantity) will cause you to smell like maple syrup but this is a good thing if the mother is really trying to increase her supply.
- If you aren't drinking this for lactational purposes, you can use ½ the amount of fennel and omit the fenugreek. Men can substitute a dash of pepper for the vitex (a really great women's herb but in the past was used to help suppress the libido of monks).

[sacredma]

these are all really good suggestions.
#1 is good latch. i have seen moms get mastits a few times as the baby's latch was not good, so she could not pull out the milk. observe the mom, and learn what a good latch should look like so you can help her. sometimes its just correcting the baby's position, making her more belly to belly with the mom.

[MyDreamDoula]

Oatmeal really helped me! I hope her supply came back!

[HamiltonBirthRevolution]

If your client wants to build a supply up she MUST pump. The breast works on a supply and demand system, so if there is demand, there will be supply. You must empty the breast fully and often so that the body can refill it. Empty more often than being asked for by baby alone and the body will make even more milk for the next day's feeds.

Pump after every single feed for 15-20 mins of long enough to get two letdowns, if that's possible. The body will think the baby is asking for an additional two letdowns worth of milk and will make it for the baby so that the next day's feeds will have more milk available for the first two letdowns.

Once or twice a day, when baby is having a good sleep and/or partner is around to do baby duty, do a power pumping routine.

Power Pumping: pump for twenty minutes after a feed as usual. Break for ten minutes and then pump for 10 more minutes. Break again for ten minutes, and again pump for another 10 minutes. Keep doing this until your being pumping in 10 minute sessions for an hour. Do this once a day for three days. It will simulate a "frequency day"/"growth spurt" when a baby would normally be nursing almost constantly to build up supply.

Herbal supplements should be one of the last steps in building a supply. Their success is variable so investing in herbals can be a waste of money for some mothers. Pumping WILL work every time as it works with the breast in the same way a baby does.

A double electric pump is recommended for any mother who needs to build supply. If mum doesn't have one, they can be rented for a few dollars a day.