5 Ways Of Improving Breast Milk Production

Are you a nursing mother having difficulty with producing breast milk for your baby? 

Do you find it difficult to meet up with your baby’s demand to be fed?

Then relax, cause you’re not alone as we often get this form of complaints from many nursing mothers after birth, and one of the things that have helped these mothers overcome this challenge of breastfeeding is to work towards improving their breast milk production to avoid the pains that come with the struggle to breastfeed their babies.

Now supposing you’re in this situation, how do you go about it? In this article, you’ll get to know  5 ways you can apply to improve your breast milk production. They are:

1. Pump Regularly (especially after breastfeeding)

Now first off, what is pumping? You may have heard of this term before or not. But it has to deal with the act of nursing mothers stimulating their breast for milk supply even when the baby is not being fed at the moment. By so doing, you get the breast stimulated for its duty when the demand for the breast milk comes from the child. 

And how this works is that you get a breast pump.  At first, this might not be easy but with time you get used to it. Also, your pumping routine can cut across day and night, as most mothers pump better at night.

An example of times you can pump is after feeding your baby and each pumping session can take about 20 minutes.

2. Eat Healthy Diets ( Galactagogues)

Yes, as a nursing mother, it is expected that you’ve got a good diet routine to replenish your breast milk to meet the demand that comes from your baby. And certain foods have been made available to aid the stimulation of the breast for milk production. These foods are called Galactagogues and some others call them Milkmakers.

Now, what are Galactagogues? They are foods that help in breastfeeding and improve breast milk production in nursing mothers. Hence they can be added to your diet to boost milk production. 

Examples of such foods are whole grains such as oatmeal and pap, Kunu made from tiger nuts, Green leaves such as spinach, Bitter leaf, and other native Nigerian foods such as Ofe Nsala (white soup) and others.

But sometimes it may be difficult for mothers to mix the right proportion of this diet and so there are food products that contain the right diet proportions and are ready for your quick consumption. 

Some of which are breastfeeding Cookies, breastfeeding Granola, and others.

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3. Drink A Lot Of Water

Now, this may come like a surprise to you on the list, but that’s one of the No. #1 way to improve on your breast milk production, and the reason for this is because, water makes over 80% of the breast milk and so in as much as the baby feeds on the breast milk, you as a mother needs to increase the water content in your body system.

4. Frequent Breastfeeding Of The Baby

As a nursing mother, the more you nurse your baby, the more your mammary gland tends to produce more milk. You may ask why? This is because when you breastfeed your baby, there lie the hormones that help trigger more milk production and it starts right from when you begin breastfeeding your baby. 

Therefore if you want to trigger more milk supply from your breast, always be willing to breastfeed the baby anytime she’s willing to.

5. Skin To Skin Contact

This approach is used to create a bond between a mother and the baby and as a result, it has its effect on the stimulation of the hormones responsible for milk production.

Usually, at the hospital when a baby is born, the doctor advises the mother to cuddle the baby for some time even when the baby isn’t feeding. And that’s because the skin-to-skin touch between mother and child plays a long role in the rapid stimulation of breast milk production.

And how this is done is that you cloth your baby with only a diaper and you also as the mother can be half nude cuddling your baby in between your breast.

This will aid the bonding between the mother and the child and as well breast milk stimulation.

Now there you’ve it. Our 5 ways of improving on your Breast milk production. And if in using these approaches, you still have issues with your breast milk supply, then you have to visit a Consultant and with that, I’m sure you’ll get help as regards how you can be the best mum to your baby.