Galactagogue: The Science of Mother's Milk

I made a nice, long, super informative post twice on this picture and both times the World Wide Web forces that be wouldn’t allow me to post it. Does that mean I have arrived?!?! I figure it’s my sign that I have. I mean, if I’m getting censored I must be doing something right 🤷🏽‍♂️. Anywho, I’ll try and post the info in the comments and see how that goes. The thing is, is it was just basic information of women’s bodies and how they work. 🤔 Hmmmm...There, it worked. Here we go!

There are many reasons that a mom might want to use a galactagogue. Maybe she has insufficient milk supply and wants to bolster it. Or, maybe her lil one was premature and has a hard time latching on so she wants to keep her milk going to be able to give the baby the nutrition. In some cases of adoption, the new momma might want to be able to feed her baby. Some mommas just want a good, rich milk supply so they give their baby nuggets the best of it.

Milk Production 101: pregnancy hormones stimulate the growth of your milk ducts. At this point, they increase in size and number and spread throughout the breast tissue. During pregnancy, the endocrine system triggers the body to make colostrum. Colostrum is babies “first milk”. It is produced right after baby is born. It is full of immune factors, fats, carbs, protein, and nutrients that the baby needs. The baby will live on this for the first 2-5 days until the mature breast milk is made. After this, the mom’s milk will “come in”. It takes different moms different amounts of time for this to occur.

During pregnancy, progesterone Levels are high in mothers, but once the placenta is delivered, they drop. This drop signals milk production via the release of prolactin. Mommas need to start nursing as soon as possible to stimulate the prolactin so it will trigger the increase of milk production. So, on average, 2-3 days after the baby is born the breasts will fill with milk. Then, the hormone oxytocin is released. This release causes milk to be pushed out of the breast. At this point milk production is maintained by supply and demand. The more the baby drinks, the more milk momma makes. That’s why allowing babies to suckle could help to keep the supply higher.

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