Breastfeeding: Making More Milk
In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, I wanted to highlight a book that offers hope, encouragement, and information that will help women overcome some of the devastating issues of low milk supply.
The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk by Diana West and Lisa Marasco has been an eye opening book for me. As someone who struggled with a low milk supply while breastfeeding, not once but twice, I found this book amazingly helpful as I read it. I heard about it from another birth teacher. Oh, how I WISH I had known about this book after our third baby was born almost two years ago! (It wasn’t written 6 years ago when my first was born) I don’t know that all my breastfeeding problems would have been solved but it would have offered me some peace and answered several of my questions. I love nursing and it is a real struggle for me that I have had so much trouble feeding and sustaining my babies on breastmilk alone.
Making More Milk explains the biological process of how breastmilk is produced. It explains how hormones, the mother’s physical development, the baby, and the mother all work together to make a plentiful supply of milk. This book covers more detail than any other breastfeeding book I’ve read about problems that can effect milk supply.
This book is FAR more than a “just pump and you’ll increase your milk supply” solution to milk supply problems. It covers in detail ideas about how to make a plan for managing milk supply, preventing low milk supply, altervative treatments and possibilities for treating low milk supply. It is the only book I am aware of that was written specifically for women who have difficulties with milk supply. Each chapter has helpful information and things to consider when dealing with milk supply problems.
If you had trouble breastfeeding with a previous child and want to try again but are nervous about trying because you are scared you’ll run into the same problems, I highly recommend this book. If anything, you will probably gain a better understanding of WHY you have milk supply issues.
Have you ever heard of this book? Struggled with low milk supply? Scared to try again? Tell us your story!
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I am the mother of 2 children and this happened to me both times. With my 2nd one, I was determined to breastfeed and did everything I could…I thought. I saw a lactation nurse, did what she said, tried other things, pumped (with one of the best ones out there), etc. It was such a hard time for me and I supplemented for weeks with formula. Eventually, I only did formula. I struggled with a lot of guilt and had people in my life that looked down on me because they thought I didn’t try hard enough. I know I did what was best and that my children are both very healthy…but, I would DEFINITELY read this book to gain some more knowledge if I was to have another one. Thanks for the great post. I hope there is also encouragement out there for mothers who really do try.
This is good, Amelia! With all my running I feel like my supply is a little low and I have been chugging water. I have been wondering about what else I can do to get more milk for my hungry boy! I will definitely look for this book. Thanks!
OK, I’m totally going to read this book!!!! I had supply issues with my first daughter and ended-up supplementing with formula but I was able to do half formula/half breastfeeding for a year and had a great nursing relationship. I have an almost-7 month old baby now and was able to exclusively nurse him for the first 6 months, but his weight gain was very slow and he was only 13.8 lbs. at 6 months (I think that’s part genetics and part my supply). He was happy and showing all signs of getting enough (diaper output), but I was also nursing about every hour and a half during the day and lots at night to keep that up. At six months he suddenly went through a growth spurt and despite nursing ALL the time, my supply wasn’t able to keep-up, so now we’re supplementing with formula and I’m hoping we’re not on a fast-track to weaning. (he’s sucking down 4 oz. bottles immediately after nursing) I definitely need to have more of a game plan going into it with my third baby. I’ve done everything “right” this time around, nursing very frequently, Fenugreek/Blessed Thistle, pumping, etc… and was able to go much longer than with my first, but somehow my supply always seemed on the edge of just barely enough and now it’s not enough again. I don’t know if it’s something physical with me, but I’d love to read this book and investigate it further for my next babies. Thanks so much for the recommendation, I had never heard of it!
Actually, it’s nice just to see there’s a full on admission that low milk supply is an issue. At our antinatal classes they told us that the proportion of women who cannot produce enough milk to satisfy their babies is so small as to be practically nil. You can imagine how that made me feel when I had problems.
And yet I know lots of people who, it turns out, also had problems, some even more serious than mine which ended in hospitalisation. I appreciate that they are trying to do everything to stop people giving up too quickly, but admitting there can be problems and suggesting more ways to overcome it would be nice. So this book is now going on my list. Superb!