I think I really needed to hear somebody tell me that I WAS making enough milk and that I’m not supposed to be pumping 4 or 5 gallons a day. I sat down and sometimes got 8 or 9 ounces out of ONE side – that’s pretty excellent. I didn’t think so at the time though. I could have used a few more chill pills than any more dang fenugreek.

I have a friend who could not breast feed either of her sons, she had very low supply. She tried domperidone, and fenugreek, and had lactation consultants out the wazoo helping her (unfortunately her La Leche League consultant was very pushy and dismissive of her physical problem, calling it a “mental block”, and made her very upset), but to no avail, she ended up on formula for both her sons by six weeks, respectively.

It devastated her, and of course, my “enough milk for triplets” situation didn’t help her feelings of inadequacy. Sometimes, even the pill, and rigorous pumping can’t help, I guess. I tried to find articles and support groups for women who had her problem, in how to cope, and how to not blame yourself, or feel bad for not giving your child the best start, all those issues that come along with not being able to breastfeed, but came up rather empty handed other than a few articles.

Do you have anywhere I can point to? I would love to be able to share that with other breastfeeding moms I know. I think it might really help.

I worry that sharing stories of overcoming extreme difficulty can sometimes have a similar effect. My own story, which I shared on my blog, was just such an extreme case – it took us five months, and it was CONSTANT hard work to get there. I shared it with the intention of being inspirational, but I can also see why someone wavering would look at what I had to do and feel that I was nuts for going to such lengths, and think “Sheesh, if it’s going to be THAT hard? Forget it!”

Even the promotion of good LCs can backfire in a similar way. “You mean I have to hire this expensive specialist to do something ‘natural’? Never mind.”

It is such a double-edged sword.
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I’m the sort to never have trouble. Breastfeeding #3 now, she’s nearly a year old. I’m glad they never tried to make me supplement in the hospital, as she was small (1 ounce above “low birth weight” despite being full term) and lost right up to their maximum tolerance. Then gained it all back in her first week. Plus averaging about 2 lbs a month gain for her first 4 months.

But if you need help getting that supply up, it would be nice for doctors to recommend ways for the mother to bring up her supply rather than just say “formula”. That’s just taking the easy way out.
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I think that the “breast is best” campaigning, while helpful in so many ways, may also be contributing to the large numbers of women who cite “low milk production” for why they stopped breastfeeding. It may not be an entirely true response, but it is certainly the one that receives less social scorn when faced with having to provide an answer to why you are not breastfeeding.

As for the use of medication, I know only one person who has ever used meds to increase milk supply and she was an adopting mother. Are there stats for how widespread the use is of these meds? It would be interesting to know because I would suspect that most women “give up” breastfeeding before meds are even suggested and that only the most committed and persistent mothers are offered the option of meds when a medical professional is not sure why a baby isn’t gaining weight.

My girlfriend, as example, just gave birth 2 months ago. Her baby lost a greater % of weight while in hosptial than the hospital considers “normal” and so the nursing staff told her it was policy to supplement with formula at that point. Unfortunately though, her son never took to her breast again after the bottle was given. This meant that after she left the hospital, she was pumping before each feed then feeding breastmilk via a bottle. Not surprisingly, given the exhaustion of a new-born, a c-section and double the amount of time required for feeding using this method, she chose to move to formula bottle-feeding. No one ever suggested to her to take a supplement, despite the fact that she has had a breast reduction surgery and is therefore at risk for low milk production.

Anyhow … that’s my two cents! Thanks for raising an issue that I hadn’t thought of before.

My baby was a scrawny little thing, too, so the nurses wanted me to supplement (and we did) but in retrospect I don’t think we needed to.

What I’ve learned (and wish I could have accepted in the beginning, but needed to have the experience to understand) is that my body is more than capable of responding to my baby to make enough milk. My job as a mom is to remove any possible barriers, e.g., eat well, get lots of rest, and RELAX as much as possible about the whole thing.

I did eat lots of oatmeal, and took fenugreek. I don’t regularly do either of those things anymore, now that Eden is a toddler and eating a lot of solids. I figure whatever I produce is what’s right for her, and we’re still going strong!

Thanks for a great post, Amber!
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