Milk Supply 101
There are times when a moms milk supply might not be sufficient to exclusively breastfeed or breast milk feed your baby. There are also times when you have enough milk for quadruplets. In my experience there is a small % of moms who genuinely don’t have the ability to produce breastmilk (insufficient glandular tissue, breast surgeries, etc) and/or only ever get a small volume for their baby. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions and if the answer doesn’t make sense or add up, keep asking until you get the right answers.
The basics of milk supply are stimulation and effective milk removal starting within hours of birth and continuing regularly for the first weeks and months of your baby’s life. If, for some reason, your baby isn’t able to effectively drain sufficient milk from your breasts I suggest you do your best to maintain your supply (hand expression/pumping) and keep baby fed while you reach out to a lactation consultant in your community. Signs of effective milk transfer at the breast are audible swallows, breast feels emptier after feeding than they did prior, baby is satisfied & settles to sleep, diapers are sufficient in weight, and the baby sleeps well between feeds. A more long term sign of effective feeding is consistent infant weight gain. Keep in mind that weight gain is only one piece of the puzzle and in no way always indicates effective feeding if the infant and/or mother is not thriving.
Some reasons your milk supply might be delayed coming in can be due to excessive intravenous fluids, excessive blood loss, separation from baby & absence of breast stimulation/colostrum removal.
This page is a work in progress...
The basics of milk supply are stimulation and effective milk removal starting within hours of birth and continuing regularly for the first weeks and months of your baby’s life. If, for some reason, your baby isn’t able to effectively drain sufficient milk from your breasts I suggest you do your best to maintain your supply (hand expression/pumping) and keep baby fed while you reach out to a lactation consultant in your community. Signs of effective milk transfer at the breast are audible swallows, breast feels emptier after feeding than they did prior, baby is satisfied & settles to sleep, diapers are sufficient in weight, and the baby sleeps well between feeds. A more long term sign of effective feeding is consistent infant weight gain. Keep in mind that weight gain is only one piece of the puzzle and in no way always indicates effective feeding if the infant and/or mother is not thriving.
Some reasons your milk supply might be delayed coming in can be due to excessive intravenous fluids, excessive blood loss, separation from baby & absence of breast stimulation/colostrum removal.
This page is a work in progress...