The biggest fear I’ve seen moms have is the fear that they aren’t making enough breast milk for their baby. While there are a few medical reasons why this may be true, the vast majority of women produce enough milk for their baby. The problem is, moms are often sabotaged by the time they leave the hospital.
Here are just some of the things moms are told:
“Your baby’s losing too much weight. We need to start supplementing.” “Your baby seems hungry. I don’t think you’re making enough milk.” “Your breasts are too small. You’ll never make enough milk.” It goes on and on. So when moms come home from the hospital, they’re already behind the eight ball, physically and psychologically. It’s instinctual for moms to worry about feeding their baby; our species wouldn’t have survived without this.
Babies eat only about 7ml of colostrum at a feed. So if the hospital staff has a mom supplement with 1oz (30mls) of formula, not only is this bad for the baby’s gut, the baby won’t be hungry for a while and therefore the milk won’t be stimulated to come in. So you can see the spiraling that happens: moms start producing less milk and confidence goes down because they’ve gotten the message their milk supply isn’t good enough.
Moms are so vulnerable at this time. Of course they want to make sure they have enough milk to feed their baby. Most moms will understandably supplement with formula if a professional tells them to. Moms, please try and trust your body to do the right thing for your baby and see a lactation consultant if you’re told you need to supplement with formula.