Unlocking the Liquid Gold: My Milk Journey in the First Week of Motherhood
I had my first-born son Eyasu in the summer of 2022. Like most new moms, I wanted to make sure I was fully prepared for his arrival. As a board-certified anesthesiologist, I already knew a lot of the medical implications related to pregnancy, postpartum, baby etc. However, I was completely new to breastfeeding and the concept was foreign to me. I knew I wanted to breastfeed my baby for the maternal and baby health benefits. This is why I decided to study for my lactation counseling license, I wanted to learn about breastfeeding in depth and also use it as an opportunity to teach others as well. Fast forward almost two years later, now with my second baby who’s just over a month old, I can look back and say that learning about breastfeeding from trusted sources was a great idea. I was able to exclusively feed my first son with breastmilk until 6 months old, then continued breastfeeding until he was 7 months old at which point I stopped when I got pregnant again.
What people might not tell you is that if you are planning to exclusively breastfeed, being able to quickly understand the process and adapt will really make or break your immediate postpartum journey.
Let me explain, after learning from the 50+hrs online lectures, buying the tools I needed to breastfeed, I felt fully prepared to take on this daunting task. However, within a day of breastfeeding my nipples cracked and my baby had an extremely hard time latching properly. Despite several visits with a certified lactation counselor and trials to properly latch, there was no improvement other than my nipples getting sorer. I was upset not only because I felt like I was missing on the experience but also because I spent so much time learning about breastfeeding only not to be able to do it properly. During my first week postpartum, I went from hand expressing and using a syringe to feed my baby and avoid nipple confusion to giving up breastfeeding and switching to exclusively pumping. I wanted my baby to get the breastmilk whether straight from the boob or not. Thankfully my milk came in quick and the research I did on how to increase and maintain my supply served me well. I had not only enough milk for my baby to feed on a regular basis, but I also pumped and stored enough milk for when I went back to work.
Side note: Eyasu did end up latching randomly at 3 months. I continued pumping and building my stash but I hope this helps as a reminder that infants could latch at a later time, so don’t lose hope mama.
What I want you to take away are the following key points.
The benefits of breastfeeding
———> Benefits for mama
Bonding experience and establishing trust with newborn
Quicker recovery from childbirth by promoting uterine contraction
Lower cost
Lower risk of: postpartum depression (IF breastfeeding is going well), Breast cancer, Ovarian cancer, Endometrial cancer, Thyroid cancer, Osteoporosis., Type 2 diabetes, Cardiovascular disease, High blood pressure, High cholesterol.
———> Breastfed babies have a lower risk of:
Diarrhea, vomiting and preterm necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
Respiratory infections like pneumonia
Ear infections
Bacterial meningitis
Asthma
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Childhood obesity
Eczema
Type 2 diabetes later in life
Leukemia (in childhood)
Cavities and future orthodontic problems for babies less than 1 year of age
Celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Why breast milk is superior to any formula…
Is easy for baby’s immature tummy and intestines to digest
Contains antibodies that protect against infection and boost immunity
Has the right amount of fat, sugar, water, protein and vitamins for your baby’s development
Promotes healthy weight gain
Changes in composition to meet your baby’s nutritional needs over time
Contains substances that naturally soothe your baby
The composition of breast milk
Carbohydrates, such as lactose, which support a healthy balance of bacteria in your baby’s stomach.
Fats that help your baby’s brain and nervous system develop.
Proteins, like lactoferrin and secretory IgA, that protect your baby from infections.
Vitamins that support your baby’s growth.
White blood cells that help fight infection.
How I established and easily increased my milk supply
It starts from day 0 postpartum, some women attempt this a week before due date. I didn’t for reasons that stimulation of the nipple can release oxytocin and can cause premature labor. I did not want to rush the natural course of events.
Day 0 (arrival of baby):
Skin to skin and immediately try to latch baby (within an hour) for 5-10 mins at a time.
It is important to make sure that baby is properly latched, this is where nipples can start cracking and getting sore thus making it difficult to continue breastfeeding.
Latch baby every 2 hours to promote release of oxytocin and prolactin. This means even at nighttime, it’s rough but you will reap the benefits later.
If baby is not latching well, hand express! You can google videos on how to hand express to learn the proper technique. With hand expression your goal is to 1. Stimulate the nipple and increase hormone release for lactation 2. Feed your baby, at this point they only need 1-2 teaspoon of the colostrum. You can collect the colostrum in a syrup cup and feed baby using a syringe (ask your nurse to bring you those things). The reason you are not introducing the bottle yet is to avoid nipple confusion. If baby gets used to the nipple of the bottle, then he/she will have a hard time latching to your nipple. It’s best to not introduce the bottle until 3-4 weeks postpartum.
Day 1 postpartum
If baby is latching, great! You will see some stool and pee. At this stage you expect 1 wet diaper +/- 1 stool.
If latching continues to be difficult, you can ask the nurse to bring you a hospital grade breastpump and mama it’s time to pump every 2-3 hours. This will get your milk going and you will slowly see the colostrum change to transitional milk which is usually yellow in color. Meanwhile you can try using nipple shields in between pumping to try and latch baby.
It is also important to eat and drink. (more on this below)
Day 2 postpartum (and so on)
If baby continues to latch, continue breastfeeding 2-3 hours or on demand. It is ok to supplement with formula if you feel like baby is not getting enough milk (crying, suckling hand after feeds, looking for boob, etc).
If latching continues to be difficult continue pumping every 2-3 hours and feeding newborn. By the end of the week 1: you should be able to pump 1-2 oz of breastmilk every 3-4hrs. It is important that you continue to pump religiously even if you don’t see an increase in your production. The process takes time, be patient.
Most lactation counselors will recommend to hold off pumping in addition to breastfeeding until week 4-5. That is because of oversupply. If your infant is drinking enough and gaining weight, additional pumping will increase your supply. This increase is great for storing milk but can also cause engorgement which is painful and sometimes leads to clogged ducts and mastitis.
Nutrition while breastfeeding is key. Breastmilk is nutrient dense and if your diet is not, it is just impossible for your body to make any milk. Here are my tips:
EAT! And do not worry about gaining weight until at least month 3. I tried exercising to lose some weight my 3rd month postpartum and my production plummeted because I cut out an extensive number of calories. You need calories, especially in the form of protein and healthy fat (chickpeas, nuts, avocado etc)
DRINK! I drink water at least 10 cups of water every day in addition of tea, milk etc.
Eat lactation boosting nutrients such as
Oatmeal
Traditional Ethiopian oat grain based milk (atmit)
Fenugreek/fennel powder, milk or pills (see amazon link below)
Barley to soup, stew or salads, barley malt!
Brown rice
Papaya
AVOID food that can decrease your supply:
Alcohol, an occasional glass of wine won’t dry up your supply, but a night of binge drinking likely will. Some people are more sensitive to the glass of wine so be careful.
Some medications including Benadryl! (consult with your doctor to see if the medications you are on can potentially decrease your milk supply)
Link to my amazon store front below. Go to “for breastfeeding/pumping mamas” to see the products I recommend.
Items to get :
Organic mother’s milk tea bags (fenugreek + fennel)
Lactation cookies (oats based)
Baby Buddha breast pump (the only pump I’ve used ever, portable small discrete)
Freemie cups (the portable cups I use to pump with the babybuddha)
LaVie mom breast massager AND roller (essential to avoid clogged ducts!)