I was listening to a podcast with a certified lactation consultant (author of “The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk”) and something she said was really a eureka for me…
The absolute #1 thing a new mom can do to insure a good milk supply is to nurse and pump extra well and often in the first 2-3 weeks from birth. The reason is really neat. Only during this time period does the body create hormone receptors in the breast (ie the “lock” that the hormone “key” fits into to signal to the body). So if you get off to a poor start (can we say tight frenulum for the first 5 days? DOH! And a jaundiced baby kept in the nursery for long periods of time?) you’ll have fewer receptors to work with thereafter. It doesn’t matter if you make a gallon of prolactin (and others) if you have few receptors to work with them.
I think I’ll rent a hospital grade pump and use it after each feeding for the first 3 weeks. Maybe this is my solution.
It was highly educational even for an experienced breastfeeding mother. Podcast here. Click the “podcast on common causes of low milk supply” link.
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17w1d. I’ve hit a tummy growth spurt- my pants are tight!! But I am right at my prepregnancy weight still according to my scale. Nausea/food aversions are back. Peh. I’m on day 4 of that.