Blog posts
Low Supply, Herbs and Induced/Re-Lactation
Table of Contents for all blog posts
Low Milk Supply and Herbal Galactogogues
Supply is complicated - related to your glandular tissue, your hormones and how well the milk is being “removed” by effective nursing and pumping. Work with your IBCLC to find out the root cause for your supply concerns. And, in the meanwhile here are a few resources to help.
Low Milk Supply website, and their excellent book Making More Milk
Herbs and foods - I am not an herbalist - this info is for education and not medical advice, please discuss this topic with your doctor or a certified herbalist. In the meanwhile here are a few resources to help.
Most herbal galactagogues are generally safe, but there are some contraindications and/or side-effects to consider (mostly with any thyroid or insulin-regulation issues) so again, please discuss with your doctor. Fenugreek, for example, is a well known herb - but for some people they actually experience supply reduction - possibly related to interactions with thyroid (note this is not true for general culinary use, only for higher dosages).
There are herbs and medicines that can decrease milk (in particular estrogen based birth control or psdeudophedrine-based medicines). So, check your medications and teas to make sure you are not taking/eating/drinking something that may lower supply.
Foods can be helpful to increase supply, but are usually not as helpful as high quality herbs - especially if they don’t taste good to you! So, please eat foods and drink teas that you love (and if that food/tea is reported to boost supply - great!) and avoid foods that you don’t like! And if you want a cookie, have a cookie that you love and not a meh lactation cookie!
Hydration - if your urine is clear/light you are doing great! Drinking water is great for everyone, but over drinking can be stressful and unnecessary.
The most popular herbs for increasing glandular tissue include:
Shatavari, Moringa (also called Mallungay), Goat’s Rue, and Torbangun.
Also Alfalfa, Blessed Thistle, Fennel and so many more.
For some people myo-inositol and other glucose/insulin-regulating supplements and medications.
It’s important to get high quality herbs and take them at dosages that have impact. Many online sources are low quality, low dosage, or have a proprietary mixture for which it’s challenging to determine dosage.
Melissa Cole’s Herbal Handbook and Herbal Database (requires a subscription). Melissa is also available for personalized consults
Medications can be used to increase milk, but it’s a complicated situation. Reglan (metoclopramide) can be prescribed in the US, but has side effects that make it less desirable. Domperidone is available around the world (including over the counter in most places) but not easily prescribabed in the US. More info about domperidone in the next section, and you would want to work with an MD/IBCLC.
The podcast Breastfeeding Outside the Box has several episodes relating to herbs, foods, and medications for supply.
Induced and Re-Lactation
Alyssa Schnell, MS, IBCLC is a wealth of information for these topics. In addition to offering personalized consults, she also offers many other excellent resources:
Re-lactation and Back-to-Breast for Birthing Parents (when supply was started but then declined)
Her book Breastfeeding Without Birthing
DomHub - a database for domperidone - designed for both parents and professionals
Her podcast Breastfeeding Outside the Box (also linked above) has many episodes on herbs, medicines, re-lactation and more.
Lactation for Adoptive parents
Lactation for Surrogate parents'
There are a variety of protocols for inducing lactation - from starting many months ahead of time and using herbs and medications to aid glandular tissue activation, to using pumping and/or at-breast supplementing anytime to stimulate supply. In addition to Alyssa Schnell’s resources above, here are a few more: