Thursday, September 20, 2012
Ginger Cookies and Cake and Mother's Milk Tea
I've been having difficulty breast feeding and have resorted to primarily pumping. My milk supply did not come in until five days after I gave birth, and by then we were formula feeding using bottles. Then I was lucky if I could muster out 5 ml of milk during each pumping. It was disheartening at times and I would do an online search to determine what the "normal" amount of milk you should produce was equivalent to the amount your baby eats. That means that I should be making at least 24 oz a day! The breast feeding classes and advocates rarely mention the difficulties involved in producing a substantial milk supply. The instructor of the breast feeding class that I attended had an attitude of "if you cannot breastfeed or choose not to, you are a horrible person."
My lactation counselor suggested foods that would help increase my milk supply. The list included items like ginger, alfalfa sprouts, oats, and mother's milk tea. So, I decided to make some gingersnaps with extra ginger.
I also had borrowed David Lebovitz's "Ready for Dessert" book from the library and made his ginger cake.
Ginger Cake-This was a pretty good cake. It had a strong ginger flavor and it's the first time I've baked something with fresh ginger versus dried ground ginger.
Then I I bought and started drinking some "Mother's Milk tea" which contains fennel, fenugreek, and some other herbs. After searching online, I think the Yogi brand is the cheapest tea and you can purchase it on Amazon for abut $17 for six boxes. This is way cheaper than the $5-6 I spent on this Organic Mother's Milk tea from the local grocery store.
So, after all my attempts, I am currently up to 9 ounces (~266ml) of milk a day. It's still not enough for all the baby's feeding, but you cannot say that I did not try.
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4 comments:
hope you'll be able to make more milk, if not, I think it is great you are trying different things to encourage it...take care!
For me it would be a bazaar taste to take a slice of Ginger Cake but as they say “if it is good for you and it looks good eat it”
Sereni-Tea.net
Thanks Kat.
Chelsea-I like your advice. Thanks!
I happened upon this article three years after the author's original posting. Good advice for aiding in increasing milk production. For those reading this article, I want to add that it is completely normal for milk to "come in" five days after baby is born, in fact mommy's body is equipped to produce mostly colostrum (the super concentrated with antibodies needed to protect a new baby from the elements of the "outside" world)for the first three to five days after birth, then the rich milk supply comes in thereafter. Many women take this as though they aren't producing much and because of the onset of that anxiety, they begin to supplement, causing the baby to suck from a different source altogether, making the body slow in the production of that milk. By the time the fifth day arrives, the body has reduced production of the estrogen/progesterone hormones needed to produce milk, and it becomes difficult for the mother to bring it up to par, however, still possible. I have eight children, have had all natural, drug free births, and nursed all of my children until the age of two. Milk production is best increased when milk extracting is practiced. Baby suckling is best, then pumping in between feedings, and the body will again demand a higher amount of hormones to support the increased milk supply. Many blessings to all you breastfeeding, baby loving mommies!
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