The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk
The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk by Diana West and Lisa Marasco While I’m not at all happy that I have personal reason to need this book right now, I am really thrilled to have found it. West and Marasco are both IBLC-certified lactation consultants with personal experience with low milk supply. They are very reassuring and nonjudgmental - you will find neither the idea that problems are all in your head or your fault nor the idea that everyone needs to supplement. First, they go over common things that people think are signs that babies aren’t getting enough but really are not. Then they talk about how to tell if you baby isn’t getting enough. If not, is the problem your baby, your feeding habits or something on your end. They go into quite a few specific situations here, covering many problems that I’ve known people to have. For instance, I hadn’t known that milk production is stimulated most heavily by night nursing, so that the common practice of pumping during the day so that Dad can bottle-feed baby and let Mom sleep is doubly harmful to establishing milk supply. They also go over supply problems caused by PCOS, hormone imbalance, and low breast tissue (either from nature or from breast surgery). Next, solutions, and a whole raft of them: how to best establish a good milk supply; how to optimize with pumping; various pharmaceutical and herbal galactagogues and when to use them. Finally, dealing with the emotions of low milk supply and how to define your own success. It’s also linked with a web site, http://www.lowmilksupply.org , designed to provide further support. Mamas, if you are concerned about your supply, this is the book for you.