Proven Benefits of Essential Oils To Increase Milk Supply When Breastfeeding?

You recently discovered there is an increasing trend in the popularity of using essential oils to increase milk supply when breastfeeding. As an expecting Mom, you want to know why?A nurturing nature is typically innate to Mothers. A woman may be characteristically benevolent all her life, but we automatically become a different being when we know we are expecting a baby.A first time Mom and all Moms, be it their second, third or many times over of becoming one, over the years of raising a baby will develop unique ways of nurturing habits? From experience, Moms will all agree with me on this.Breastfeeding is actively promoted nowadays, across many countries around the world. It is found to help babies benefit from naturally occurring nutrients in breastmilk. However, a lot of us Moms who want to religiously breastfeed may find to our dismay we cannot supply what our babies need. 

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What are the most common causes of the inability to produce enough supply of breastmilk?

• diet
• lifestyle
• maternal conditions

It is necessary for you to maintain a healthy diet to boost your milk supply. An exceptional breastfeeding Mom’s diet is low in sugar, refined/processed foods and other unhealthy foods consumption. It has to be high in vegetables, fresh fruits and proteins. Healthy fats are necessary too. And don’t forget to rehydrate by drinking lots of water. Getting dehydrated will surely restrict your body’s capability to produce milk. Caffeine from soda, coffee and tea can be dehydrating, and a big no, no when breastfeeding.

This could go hand in hand with Diet in limiting your capacity to naturally produce enough breastmilk. I have to write this here because personally telling a Mom to cultivate a healthy lifestyle by sleeping early and other healthy habits upfront can be a little awkward.

As Moms, we should be prudent in moderating stresses. 20 minutes, max of 30 minutes quiet time a day goes a long way. You can ask family members to help your quiet time happen. Get their help with cleaning, cooking and running errands like grocery shopping. Have you noticed your baby may fuss a bit because they can’t get enough milk when you’re extra stressed?

Some conditions naturally present in a woman’s anatomical structure can cause inability to produce milk. These are Breast’s Natural Storage Size, Hidden Fertility Problems, PCOS, Deficiency of the Glandular Tissue and Hormone Fluctuation in relation to a woman’s development and physiology.Female hormones estrogen and progesterone tells our body when to start to produce milk. These hormones at first direct our body to develop the mammary glands (breast) during adolescence. At some point, the development gets stunted leading to a medical condition called insufficient glandular tissue in lay man’s term.Insufficient glandular tissue refers to both the abnormal development of the breast in shape and size and to the limitation of its capacity to produce milk. Other conditions such as PCOS and Hidden Fertility Problems also affect a woman’s capacity to produce milk and are also related to our hormones. These conditions are caused primarily by hormonal imbalances, and up to date are still a mystery to the medical world.

Now, how can you use essential oils to increase milk supply?

Failure of some mothers with breastfeeding more often than not is caused by undersupply[G6] of breastmilk. Over the years various clinical interventions were tried and tested by clinicians (nutritionists, lactation consultants and other maternal health support professionals), to help mothers who came to ask for help increase breastmilk supply. Recently, many Moms found you can use essential oils to increase milk supply, and this became popular. I tried and used a few of these essential oils myself with my first child. The nature of my work and lifestyle often cause me to be extra stressed upsetting my body’s production of milk.Pooling information and opinions from friends and health consultants; clary sage, fennel (limit to 10 days per interval), geranium and basil are the most preferred and effective oils.Best to stay away from peppermint. Or you can use peppermint sparingly when breastfeeding. Ingesting or topical application of peppermint cause some mothers noticeable drop in milk, although a few said they didn’t notice any change.

To be safe dilute your essential oils when using them. You can use carrier oils like fractionated coconut oil, olive oil or almond oil. Don’t topically apply essential oils on nipples, your baby may not like the taste. But when you are treating cracked nipples with an essential oil, make sure you wipe your nipple before feeding.

Essential Oils Blends to increase milk supply

• Use 2 drops of fennel
• Add 4 drops of clary sage
• Mix together in a 10ml roller bottle
• Add fractionated coconut oil. Fill to the top.

You can apply this blend to breast, avoid nipple area after nursing. This will stimulate the increase of milk flow in next feeding.Breastfeeding comes naturally to a woman because we are physically, emotionally and psychologically structured to provide nurturing. When for some reasons our body deviates naturally from its expected development. We have several alternative sources of support we can tap to help. Essential oils were found to have many benefits, and increasing milk supply is one of them.

Other Related Articles:

1. Why Has My Milk Flow Suddenly Lessened? How Can I Fix It?