Breast milk is the most valuable and healthy natural product for a newborn. It contains not only the necessary supply of microelements, but also antibodies that protect the baby from the harmful effects of the environment.
Many women, even before giving birth, wonder on what day the milk comes in and what to do if there is no milk, but the baby already needs to be fed? Milk production occurs individually for each woman in labor. This is a natural process established by nature. When can lactation be affected and how to speed up this process or increase the amount of milk produced?
When does milk normally come in after natural birth and cesarean section?
Colostrum begins to be produced in the mammary glands of the expectant mother during pregnancy, so after birth the baby has something to get enough of. What is the function of colostrum after childbirth? This yellowish thick liquid is very nutritious even in small quantities.
In primiparous women, the arrival of milk is noted several days later than in those women who have already given birth (more details in the article:). Usually it begins to be produced on the third day after natural birth. This process can take up to a week in the case of a caesarean section.
How does the milk come in and is it possible to alleviate the condition?
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When milk arrives in the mammary glands, the young mother feels heat, distension and swelling of the breast - it hardens. Body temperature may increase. Experts recommend massaging the glands and pumping to relieve the condition. If this is not done, the milk may burn out and not be produced enough.
Pumping helps develop the nipple. Frequently putting the baby to the breast also helps to alleviate the condition, but in the first days of life the baby does not need so much food to be satisfied.
Why doesn't milk come in or is there little milk?
Women, especially first-time mothers, often panic if milk does not come in immediately after delivery. Why does this happen and how to cause the arrival of nutrient fluid after childbirth? The body of each woman in labor is individual, and lactation is established in different ways. If there is little milk or it has not arrived at all, you need to follow simple recommendations:
- apply the baby alternately to each breast quite often;
- ensure that the baby grasps the nipple correctly with his mouth;
- drink plenty of fluids;
- monitor your diet (food should be varied and rich in vitamins and minerals).
Sometimes there are pathological reasons for the lack of breast milk. These include:
- primary hypogalactia (problems with women's health and the functionality of the mammary glands, hormonal imbalance or endocrine diseases);
- secondary hypogalactia (occurs due to complicated childbirth, surgery or serious illness of the woman).
How to cause milk to come in?
As mentioned above, frequent feeding of the baby to the breast stimulates the lactation process. Night feedings are also very important, because it is at night that the hormone prolactin is produced in the female body, which is responsible for the full process of lactation.
Massage of the mammary glands and a warm shower have a beneficial effect on their condition. Blood circulation in the breast improves, which helps milk appear in the milk ducts. Drinking plenty of warm drinks throughout the day helps ensure timely milk supply.
Is it possible to increase the volume of milk?
A woman’s milk ducts produce as much milk as the baby needs for one feeding. As the baby grows, its needs increase, and mother's milk may not be enough.
Sometimes a woman experiences a so-called lactation crisis, when the nutrient fluid appears in insufficient volume. This condition is short-term and occurs during periods of the child’s most intensive growth. The body does not have time to adapt to meet the baby’s new needs.
The mother does not need to react sharply to this state of her body, and even more so there is no need to rush to transfer the baby to artificial feeding. In this case, natural feeding cannot be restored. There are effective ways that help quickly improve the milk flow process.
Pharmacy drugs
To stimulate the lactation process, you can use pharmaceutical products. Special herbal preparations in the form of tea or decoction help the female body restore normal milk production.
Vitamins for nursing mothers also help in this case. These are drugs such as:
- Vitrum Prenatal;
- Complimentary Mom;
- Femibion;
- Elevit Pronatal.
It is possible to use homeopathic remedies and dietary supplements, which are also sold in pharmacies. Enhance lactation:
- Apilak;
- Lactogone;
- Mlekoin et al.
What and how much to drink and eat?
Drinking plenty of fluids and nutritious food directly affect the lactation process. You can strengthen it if you use:
- rosehip tea;
- tea with condensed milk;
- carrots with sour cream;
- nuts;
- flax seeds;
- lettuce leaves;
- sesame.
A nursing mother's body should receive the required amount of fluid - from 2 to 3 liters per day. Pomegranate or carrot juice, as well as herbs brewed with boiling water (melissa, anise, yarrow, nettle, dill, fennel) enhance lactation well.
Massage, shower, pumping
Massaging the breasts from the base to the nipples helps improve blood supply to the mammary gland tissue. Movements should be soft, circular or stroking, directed from top to bottom. As a result of the massage, the milk ducts expand and milk moves through them faster.
Taking a shower also stimulates milk production because the water jet massages the breasts, and the sound of the water affects the brain and promotes the production of prolactin. You can pump while taking a shower, or you can massage the mammary glands under water, then come to the child and let him eat.
Frequent correct attachment of the baby to the breast
If the baby is often put to the breast, irritation of the nipples occurs and the production of hormones (prolactin and oxytocin), which are responsible for the timely flow of milk, increases. You need to ensure that the baby grasps not only the nipple, but also the areola around it.
Proper breastfeeding helps to completely empty the milk ducts of milk and protects the mammary glands from stagnation. Stagnation of milk in the ducts can cause inflammation and mastitis.
Whoever wants, will achieve: interesting facts about lactation
If there is not enough milk, you can improve its production with simple steps. Lactation will be restored if:
- spend more time with the child, have skin-to-skin contact with him;
- sleep with the baby (the biorhythms of the mother and baby coincide, the baby receives the breast faster, and the mother’s body begins to produce another portion of the nutritional mixture even when the baby moves);
- wear woolen clothes (wool acts on muscle fibers and relaxes them, while warming and relieving spasms);
- feed the baby to the sound of water (you can buy a small tabletop waterfall or simply open the tap, this promotes the production of hormones necessary for the lactation process);
- walk in the fresh air more often and feed the baby there;
- use an aroma lamp (lemon, mint or lavender oil is suitable);
- the woman’s psychological mood will be favorable (fears and worries negatively affect milk production).
Many new mothers, especially those who have given birth to their first child, panic when, after childbirth, not milk is released from their breasts, but a colorless liquid in very small quantities. For these reasons, pregnant women need to ask in advance how and when the first milk appears and what features of breastfeeding arise in the first week of being together with a newborn.
When does milk appear?
A few weeks before the expected delivery, a woman may notice the release of colostrum - a thick yellowish liquid. Immediately after birth, there is still no milk; the same colostrum continues to be released, but it is lighter in color and not as dense in consistency. The baby needs it to prepare his digestive system for full milk, which will arrive approximately 5-6 days after birth.
The process of its appearance is controlled by many physiological mechanisms, so in each case it can be individual. By days 3-5, colostrum becomes more liquid and there is more of it - this is already “transitional” milk. The arrival of full-fledged mother's milk usually occurs by 5-6 days after birth, after which its composition and quantity do not change significantly for many months.
How to latch a baby
The first attachment of a newborn is very important for the subsequent establishment of feeding. After all, if for the first time the baby received only negative emotions from this process, perhaps in the future he will refuse his mother’s breast and the baby will have to be fed from a bottle. In the maternity hospital, medical personnel usually teach the mother how to attach correctly, pointing out the main points of this process.
So that feeding brings only positive emotions to the baby and mother, you need to know the correct sequence of feeding:
- Take a comfortable position. At first, it is more convenient for women to feed while lying down or reclining sideways.
- Position the baby with his tummy facing you so that his head is slightly higher than his legs. The face should be turned towards the nipple.
- There is no need to fix the head with your hands, but the shoulders and back need additional support from the mother.
- The baby's mouth should be directly at the nipple, the areola can be drawn along his lower lip - the baby's reflex will work and he will take the breast himself.
- You need to ensure that the newborn takes the nipple and most of the lower areola into his mouth - this way feeding will be painless for the mother, and the baby will receive a sufficient amount of milk, both front and rear. If the baby has taken the breast correctly, his lower lip will be turned out and his nose will be close to the breast.
- If the mother sees that the baby has taken the nipple incorrectly, you need to lightly press his chin so that he releases the breast from his mouth, and try again.
There is no breast milk, what should I do?
In the first days after childbirth, inexperienced mothers may actually feel like they have no milk. This is a normal process at the beginning of lactation, when it is produced in small quantities and is more like a cloudy thick liquid.
Some mothers, especially first-time mothers, feel as if they have no milk at all. In this case, you need to contact a breastfeeding specialist or a doctor at the maternity hospital, who will show you how to properly develop your breasts. By pressing firmly on the nipple, while grasping the edges of the areola, you can see how milk flows out in a fairly strong stream even from a seemingly empty breast. The main thing is the desire to feed your baby yourself and consultation with a competent specialist.
A nursing mother has little milk, what should she do?
We can talk about such problems if a combination of the following factors is observed:
- the child gains less than 500 grams of weight monthly;
- pees less than 12 times a day (can be calculated by the number of wet diapers);
- the baby has irregular, scanty stools mixed with mucus and greens;
- the child is lethargic, skills do not correspond to age.
A specialist can help you establish proper lactation, but you can try to cope with this problem on your own. To ensure milk remains in sufficient quantities, you need to follow the following recommendations:
- Express after feeding. A breast pump is suitable for this, but you can also do it manually. The following video shows how to properly strain the mammary glands:
- Perform a light massage of the mammary glands daily, preferably before feeding or pumping.
- Attach your baby to every need. Feeding should be continuous.
- Eat nutritiously and, if necessary, drink vitamin and mineral complexes.
- Drink more than 2 liters of fluid per day, most of which should be warm drinks.
- Correctly position the baby so that he grasps the nipple in his mouth along with the lower part of the areola.
These tips will help improve lactation and speed up the flow of mature milk.
What to eat to get milk
The process of milk production is inherent in nature, but you can still influence its quantity by controlling your diet. Doctors recommend paying special attention to the following foods and including them in your daily diet:
- radish;
- carrot;
- brown rice;
- fennel;
- hazelnuts and walnuts;
- dill;
- lettuce;
- black currant.
In addition, in pharmacies you can buy special teas to improve lactation and dietary supplements. Don’t forget about proper sleep and rest, and then there will be as much milk as your baby can eat.
In the first two months, breastfeeding is a complete joy, because there is more than enough milk, there is a surplus that has nowhere to go. But then there is a gradual decline in volumes. At least that's how it was for me. In this connection, I will describe here everything that I did to maintain at least the same volumes of milk. This may seem trivial to some, but if I had learned about all these methods immediately before the start of breastfeeding, I would not have written this here. I learned some of the information from a breastfeeding specialist, and some from my mother and mother-in-law.
1. Drink plenty of warm/hot drinks(I drank teas, including those that stimulate lactation, fruit drinks, just water). They recommend different times: before feeding, during feeding, after feeding, before meals... I drank liquids constantly, even at night.
2. Pumping after feeding. This is necessary, no matter what they write on the forums. Over time, the child will begin to eat even more than in the first months, therefore, it is necessary to prepare for this.
3. Breast massage. After feeding and pumping, when the breasts are empty, massage is needed to say “thank you” to the mammary gland for its good work. The massage is very simple - stroking in a circle in any direction.
4. Warm/hot shower helps too. I took it several times a day and at the same time did a massage with a watering can and hot water. But not with boiling water.
5. Keep your chest warm useful, especially after a shower. I wore wool boleros, especially when it got cold outside.
6. Attach your baby to the breast on demand, especially at the very beginning of breastfeeding. This way, the breasts should get used to the fact that they will have to work and work in the coming months.
7. Brief relaxations also help milk flow. If anyone knows how to meditate, he is lucky. I didn’t know how, I learned as the play progressed, as they say.
8. Walking in the fresh airor light physical activity also stimulate milk production.
9. Sleep. They say. I couldn’t sleep 8 hours a day, much less continuously.
10. Constantly think about the child. Thanks to our hormones, thoughts about the baby materialize into milk. My milk volume increased intensely if my son cried: it just seemed empty, but then oops!, there’s something to snack on.
11. Co-sleeping with your baby helps a lot.
12. Feeding at night. They name different intervals, they told me about 0.00-04.00, somewhere it says 03.00-07.00, somewhere it says just about midnight. I can add on my own that you will inevitably have to feed the baby at night, be sure to do this.
13. Feed from both breasts at once. Even if the child is gaining well. I took turns feeding both breasts in one “session”. Moreover, she took advantage of the fact that a child can suck even in his sleep. So I carved out longer intervals for sleep or for myself (from the second month we went straight to three-hour intervals due to the large volume of milk).
I hope I haven't forgotten anything. In the next post I’ll tell you about the miracle breast pump that saved me.
As you know, the most valuable product for a child in the first days of his life is breast milk. However, many women face such a problem when there is no milk after childbirth. In this case, you should not panic; often your worries turn out to be unfounded. Let's look at the causes and possible solutions to this problem.
Why is there little milk after childbirth?
In the first three days after birth, when milk has not yet come, colostrum begins to be released from the breast, which is an even more useful and nutritious product. Colostrum contains a large amount of protein, thanks to which the baby is quickly satiated, and the enzymes and minerals included in its composition contribute to the easy passage of meconium from the intestines. In addition, colostrum contains very little fat, which facilitates the work of the newborn’s ventricle.
After 3-5 days, young mothers stop worrying about the question of why there is no milk after childbirth, since during this period the production of transitional milk begins, which contains less protein and more fat. This process is usually accompanied by an increase in body temperature. After about a week, the mammary glands begin to actively produce mature milk. There is no need to worry about a large amount of it, as during breastfeeding it will come into line with the baby’s needs.
It often happens that there is not enough milk after childbirth. This situation can be corrected by properly establishing breastfeeding. First, let's talk about how to strain milk after childbirth. This can be done by hand or using. After each feeding, it is necessary to express the remaining milk. The more often you do this, the faster and in larger quantities milk is produced.
If you are expressing milk by hand, begin the procedure with a light breast massage, then, using light pressure, stroke the breasts towards the nipples and express the milk. In addition, this procedure will help prevent lactostasis.
It happens that even such procedures do not have a positive effect on the appearance of milk after childbirth. In this case, you can resort to additional measures. You can increase lactation with the help of herbal infusions. Herbal decoctions do an excellent job of this task: fennel, lemon balm, dill, mint, and rose hips. In addition, it is useful to drink.How to produce milk after childbirth?
And finally, advice to expectant mothers - don’t worry about whether there will be milk after childbirth. By following all the recommendations described above, you can easily establish breastfeeding, providing your baby with reliable protection for his immunity and a guarantee of full development!
Hello, dear editors! I am very worried about this problem: after the birth of the child, I had no milk at all, and we were forced to switch to artificial feeding. Now we are waiting for the second one, and I really want to find out from a specialist: can I get milk now and what needs to be done for this. Thank you very much in advance.
Natasha.
An employee of the Center for Medical Prevention, gynecologist Tatyana Nikolaevna Byakova answers: “Special tests can determine the characteristics of lactation. For example, if you have endocrine diseases, this can affect lactation. But such tests can and should be done only before pregnancy. But since Natalya is already expecting a baby, so she can be advised to choose the right diet. Focus on dairy and especially fermented milk products. Drink 2-3 glasses of milk or fermented milk products (ryazhenka, snowball, etc.) per day. Eat more cheese. At least three times a day. for a week it should be present on your table. Cottage cheese and other dairy products are also desirable. As for calcium, it should be enough in your diet 1200-1500 mg per day. Drink plenty of cocoa. Cocoa contains a lot of magnesium, which also indirectly affects during lactation. Green tea with milk is also a good option. And all these drinks should be hot. All these recommendations can be used both during pregnancy (especially in the last trimester) and after the birth of the child. As for herbs, there are special herbs on sale; I suggest focusing on rose hips and other herbs rich in vitamin C and bioflavonoids. In addition, special homeopathic remedies are sold in pharmacies. But they can only be used after the birth of the child. For example, apilak, mlekoin. Very few women know about the wonderful procedure that is carried out in the city physiotherapy clinic. Here they conduct a special course of ultrasound treatment (after the birth of a child) - electrical stimulation of the mammary glands with ultrasound. Some women have simply amazing results after this procedure!
Golden rules for women who had problems with lactation at the birth of their first child:
When the baby is born, the most important thing is to attach it to the breast correctly: so that the baby grasps not only the nipple, but also the entire areola with his mouth.
Massage. Many women, when experiencing a lack of milk, begin to squeeze their nipples tightly. In fact, the massage should be very gentle - gentle movements from the neck to the nipple. This stimulates milk production.
After the birth of the baby, drink about 1.5-2 liters of liquid (preferably hot) per day.
A good rest, a night's sleep.
Participation of the family, especially the husband, in child care.
No anxiety, no stress.
Walks in the open air.
Personal hygiene, no perfumes or detergents with a strong smell.
And remember: the most important thing is a positive, good attitude!”
