Insufficient Lactation Case
Last week I saw a woman who was having difficulty with nursing. She was 2 1/2 weeks postpartum. She brought her beautiful daughter with her which was such a treat! Then her husband took the baby so we could have some good time to look at what was going on.
After a good birth a bit after term, her baby had difficulty latching on. The days of effort left the mom’s nipples feeling very raw and painful. It’s much easier on the nipples when a baby really latches on. But, she also felt that her baby was frustrated because the milk supply was not robust. Since the birth she had not felt any sensation of fullness in the breast nor any sense of let-down. She began to supplement with formula some to make sure her daughter was getting enough and also pumped to keep what milk she had available for the baby. She was worried that her daughter would get so used to the ease of the bottle that she might not want to nurse any more at all.
Why was there not enough milk? It’s normal for the postpartum woman’s breasts to be engorged with milk and for the let-down to allow milk to flow […]