Can Anything Be Done During Pregnancy to Increase Milk Supply When Baby Comes?

I was prescribed reglan also when I went back to work and was pumping exclusively and my supply began to decrease. It helped tremendously.

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I normally have 32A breasts and was able to breast feed with no problems. The size of the breast doesn't matter. All pregnancies are different. Perhaps you'll produce more with this baby. Nurse your baby as soon as you can after you deliver. See if you can meet with a lactation consultant in the hospital. It might not be your production at all. It could be that your son wasn't latched on correctly. If you nursed and he didn't get much due to the latch and it continued then your breasts probably just started to dry up. And don't let the 1 oz. while pumping discourage you. My let down was much MUCH slower while pumping than when truly breast feeding my son. Your boobs know the difference! ;) Good luck!! Don't stress about it. Congrats on your pregnancy!

Don't stress over it. Stress actually decreases your supply. With each baby, your breastfeeding experience can be completely different. Have your baby and go from there....don't worry mom :-)

My doctor recommended that I begin pumping at 37 weeks. All I got was a teeny bit of colostrum each time, but it did seem to help once my daughter was born, since the colostrum was free-flowing by then. Don't start until 37 weeks, because pumping can induce labor for some women (I had no such luck). Do not take Fenugreek while pregnant (most say that right on the bottle). Once the baby comes, drink tons of water, and drink a beer (one) while nursing in the evening (not before nursing nor while pregnant) can help with letdown. Good luck this time around!

My breasts also never change during pregnancy. I was diagnosed with insufficient glandular tissue. (not a very common thing, but common in woman with low to no milk supply.) I don't have small breasts, but my Dr. told me it is a myth, that only small breasted woman have insufficient glandular tissue. (it is not very common, though.) For me, there was nothing I could do. I never produced one drop. For others, breastfeeding as much as your breasts allow and supplementing, is all you can really do. I would suggest looking it up and seeking out a lactation consultant, who knows about glandular tissue problems. You might have that and they might be able to find ways to produce a little more. Good luck.
P.S.
It's also called Mammary Hypoplasia, If you go to the La Lech League website and look it up, they may have info. on it there.

If I remember correctly, actual milk production is a hormonal reaction to the birth of your baby and will usually produce colostrum before any milk is available. Studies have shown the first 30 minutes after birth are important for bonding with your baby and activating the hormones for milk production. Here is a great article that tells you what is going on with your body for milk production: http://www.babycenter.com/0_making-breast-milk-how-your-b...

I highly recommend reading the book "The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk." It helps you walk through and diagnose why you have milk issues. It even has a section on herbs, and p. 185 has some commentary on herbs during pregnancy to increase supply.

Some thoughts:
- Are your breasts hypoplasic? Since you mentioned that your breasts don't grow during pregnancy; it's a term for the shape, and essentially can be indicative of breast tissue not developing.
- Have you examined your hormones? When hormones are off, it can inhibit tissue development and milk production.
- Domperidone is a prescription you can get after the baby's born. (Reglan has a high likelihood of depression.) You'd have to get it compounded, so it's pricey.

You're right, it is very hard. I highly recommend the book as it talks about all the things I mentioned above and a lot more.

And, as you know, lots and lots of nursing, starting as soon as you can after baby's born.

I struggled with supply and have spent a lot of time researching and seeing LCs, doctors, endocrinologists, and more to solve my issues. So also feel free to private message me and I'm happy to talk in more detail about my personal experience and findings!

I hav small breasts and mine dont grow either. I nursed my oldest 2 and am nursing my 3rd now. I nursed all 3 of them within an hour of birth. Ask your lactation about using reglan, I know it is useful when baby is first born. Also my lactation has me taking fenugreek and blessed thistle, 3 pills of each, 3 times per day. Also try pumping after baby nurses, even if you get nothing it will still demand more of your body. Make sure to nurse baby every 3 to 4 hours, around the clock and aim for a good 15 min on both sides. You can also pump in between nursing sessions, that will increase your supply for sure! Good luck!

Try not to stress too much and hope that you won't have the same problems as in the past. However, if all else fails, I took a prescription called domperidone for many months to increase my milk supply. It helped tremendously! Feel free to message me if you have questions about it.

I have two small children, my youngest is about to turn a year old. With both my milk supply was low. VERY low. I worked with a lactation nurse for 6-8 weeks with my first and was only able to increase my supply a little. We tried EVERYTHING.

In addition to nursing All. The. Time., I was pumping in between with a rented hospital grade pump. With my second she had me start pumping hours after giving birth to try and stimulate milk production. Didn’t make much of a difference. I was extremely disappointed that I had to supplement with my first but more relaxed and accepting that “it is what it is” with my second.

I have small breasts that did not grow at all too. I’ve tried Fenugreek… “More Milk” (from Whole Foods), Reglan and Domperidone.

You may want to try this… My friend used it and it worked for her… Didn’t help me though… NURSING SUPPLEMENTOR/LACTATION AID: This device consists of a tube attached to a bottle that is applied to mother’s nipple prior to baby nursing. The baby gets milk from both mother and the supplementor at the same time. The supplementor is advantageous because it stimulates milk supply while feeding baby.

Drink A LOT of water and eat high nutrition meals. You do not need to drink cow's milk to make your own, though some Mom's seem to think they need to. Put your baby to your breasts often. Babies need to suck way up high on your areolas to bring milk down. It will look like way too much breast is crammed into your baby's mouth, but that is how it works. ( Bleeding nipples are usually the result of not having the baby suck on the areola). Breast feeding is a learned skill. Visiting ahead of time with a close-by La Leche League Leader is your best bet to avoid problems and have "success" with breast feeding. Your breast size has absolutely nothing to do with your milk supply because milk is made in glandular tissue, not the fatty tissue we all call breasts. Large breasted women don't produce more than small breasted women. Also, if you supplement with formula, it will decrease your supply. I'm not judging feeding choices; Just making sure you know what will increase supply, since this is clearly important to you. With the right supports, you all will be fine!

Some mommies dont respond to the pump, so latch that baby as much as possible. I had a low supply in the beginning and I took 'Mother Love' more milk plus....IT IS NASTY but it works. I am currently weaning and my son is almost 6 months old and will more than likley have milk until he is at least 9 if not 12 months...becuase of what is in my freezer and my moms...good luck!!

I dont really think there is too much you can do while your pregnant. After your baby is born, I would nurse, then when he/she is finished, pump out both breasts to empty them. That will trigger your body to fill up again with milk. Im 32 weeks pregnant myself and have been leaking milk since I was like 4 months along (but I havent breastfed for over a year now). I wish I could send some your way. Best wishes!

I had the same problem with my daughter she was born 3 months early and was in the NICU for 6 weeks. and I couldnt nurse her. I have small breast also 32AA cup. I couldnt produce enough milk. I took fenugreek and blessed thistle these helped a little, then they put me on regulan. It helped alot However, it caused me to have anxiety attacks. It causes brain damage luckily I avoided that. I had to stop using it. However when I did my breast milk went away. I talked to several doctors and they all told me that as long as I gave her the collostrum and what breast milk I could that using formula was just fine. I know its hard when you realize that you cant breast feed. Its an instinct that all women have. and I went through depression after I couldnt breast feed. But know that your child will be OK.

I have had trouble with supply in the past. Honestly I have used Fenugreek, and was able to get my son off of formula completely with it. I had success with it, but that doesn't mean everyone will. I also took a few days to do, what seemed like, nothing but nurse, all day long. That helped build up volume as well. I still take fenugreek, and my little guy is still purely on the breast. Another thing that will help is pumping after your baby nurses, even if you don't get much milk to pump out it will signal your hormones to start producing more. Great lactation consultants can do amazing things as well.

I see people who are suggesting reglan... I would beg you to read the side effects with that, and the fact that it does get into your breast milk! I was perscribed it as well, but using it to boost breast milk is off-lable useage, and to me it was not worth the risk of side effects, so I never used it. Again I am sure people have probably had great success with it, but I didn't like the risks that went along with it.

I have read an account of another small-breasted mother having success breastfeeding. I believe they say that the smaller the capacity of your breast, the more frequently the baby will need to feed...but your body will and can produce an ample supply for your baby.

That aside, I found that having an epidural and a cesarean were the main cause of my initial difficulties with breastfeeding. Why? the medication that I was given during labor and then afterwards made my baby so sleepy that he was unable to nurse for more than a second without falling asleep - thereby not stimulating my breasts enough to produce milk. Having a cesarean affected my supply in several ways. Firstly, my milk took several days longer to come in (since the baby bypassed the natural route of exit which naturally triggers hormones), secondly, they refused to let me drink anything for hours before and after the surgery - I was so dehydrated that drinking water was all I could think about (breastfeeding requires proper hydration). Lastly, it is important to nurse your child as soon afterwards the delivery as possible since they are the most awake and wired to nurse at this time; however, my arms were numb from the anesthetics, so I couldn't hold him and I was so thirsty I wasn't interested anyhow. Needless to say, after months of stressing about nursing, I finally started using Domperidone and it has eased my stressed immeasurably - although it doesn't work until the first month or so after delivery. If you'd like to know more about it, just send me a "private message".

I am not an expert but I will share something I've observed. Did you gain the minimum number of pounds recommended for your pregnancies your first two times? I gained more than the recommended amount of weight and ended up with an abundant milk supply (I did not eat whatever I wanted and gain this excess weight on purpose.. I exercised a TON regularly before my pregnancy to keep my weight where it was and the nausea kicked my butt… I went to walking a couple of miles per day about 4 x per week and packed on too many pounds due to the activity decline). I have a few friends who gained small amounts (20 pounds or less) and ended up having issues with their milk supply. I always thought that perhaps their fat stores were too low causing issues with their milk production … along the same logic that you have to eat enough while you are breast feeding to keep your supply up. I am not encouraging you to gain more than recommended amount of weight by any means but I just thought I would share this observation with you and if you tend to gain too few, perhaps consider adding few extra (300-500) healthy calories each day to get your weight gain into the recommended range. Best wishes for a healthy delivery/baby.