{"id":33,"date":"2019-10-30T09:08:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T16:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maternitycareclinic.ca\/blog\/?p=33"},"modified":"2020-04-26T19:27:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T02:27:25","slug":"breast-feeding-your-newborn-making-enough-milk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maternitycareclinic.ca\/blog\/breast-feeding-your-newborn-making-enough-milk\/","title":{"rendered":"Breastfeeding Your Newborn: Making Enough Milk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many women worry about making enough milk. Fortunately, if the first few days are managed well, your breasts usually make just the right amount of milk for your baby. The most important way to make enough milk is to drain the breasts frequently. Breasts actually make a protein called Feedback Inhibitor of Lactation or FIL to suppress production if milk is left in the breasts for prolonged periods.\u00a0 The more frequently the breasts are drained the less FIL and the more milk is made. Removing milk from the breasts places an order for your breasts to make more milk.<\/p>\n

The first hour after childbirth is especially important for getting breast milk production off to a good start. If colostrum, the first milk you produce for the first few days of life, is removed before the baby is an hour old, you can make 40% more milk! Ideally this removal occurs by the baby latching and suckling at the breast. A less than first hour feed is a great time for a baby to learn and imprint how to latch well. A deep latch enables good drainage of the breasts. Sometimes a baby won\u2019t or can\u2019t latch in the first hour. If you hand express some milk instead or as well as breastfeeding, your breasts will know the baby is here and milk production can begin well.<\/p>\n

It is a great idea to learn the skill of hand expression of breastmilk at home starting at about 37 weeks of pregnancy. Just removing milk before the baby is born increases supply. The warmth of the shower is a great place to practice. If you want to save it to feed to your baby just in case she needs some extra colostrum in the first few days, ask the nurses at MCC for some labels and syringes. Watch the video at Stanford University Website to learn how hand express.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/med.stanford.edu\/newborns\/professional-education\/breastfeeding\/breastfeeding-in-the-first-hour.html <\/a><\/p>\n

The first three days of life are also very important as the frequency of breast drainage at this time sets the stage for future milk production. Mothers who breastfeed 8-12\/day in these first three days make significantly more milk than those who breastfeed less frequently. If you add hand expression to this, you can make even more. Hand express five times per day in these first few days to maximize this effect. You can feed this to baby with a spoon or syringe or just take it out. Expect to initially get small drops of colostrum when you express as the volume of colostrum is much less than the mature milk that will come in when the baby is two to five days old.<\/p>\n

Because newborns born close to their due date have a special fat called brown fat, they don\u2019t need large volumes of milk in this early period. The brown fat is very similar to a bear\u2019s winter fat. Humans only have brown fat in these first days of life. Babies use this as food while they are figuring out how to breastfeed and as mom\u2019s mature milk starts to come in.<\/p>\n

Thus, to establish a great milk supply for your baby:<\/p>\n