Lactation Cookies, Herbal Teas and Shakes. They claim to increase milk supply, but what does the evidence say?
One of the top common concerns for first-time mums is worrying if their baby is getting enough milk. If you are breastfeeding, you cannot measure how much your little one is gulping down. And, when you are well and truly past the initial phase of your milk coming in (hello double D’s), your breasts can start to feel softer (even when they’re full of milk). This is when mothers most commonly start to have doubts about their supply.
It seems every mother’s group has an anecdotal story of how lactation cookies or herbs have boosted their milk supply. With lactation cookies and shakes now available on the market, many are wondering, is this really going to make a difference?
Galactagogues is the compound thought to play a role in increasing milk supply. You can find this is foods such as brewer’s yeast, wheat germ, flax seed meal and whole oats, Milk Thistle.
We did the Research, so you don’t have to
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A meta-analysis looked at Forty‐one RCTs involving 3005 mothers and 3006 infants from at least 17 countries.
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Findings conclude that due to extremely limited, very low certainty evidence, we do not know whether galactagogues have any effect on the proportion of mothers who continued breastfeeding at 3, 4 and 6 month
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There is little evidence that the herbs actually work, nor is there evidence that they do not work
So, you could say more high-quality research is needed.
What is important to note is that despite the lack of clinical trial data on the actual increase in measured volume of breast milk production, indicators of breastfeeding adequacy boosted participants’ confidence levels and resulted in psychological benefits.
Therefore, it is important to consider a range of factors, including adequate calories, hydration and nutrition for milk supply, mother’s and baby’s health, baby’s sucking skills, proper latch and frequency of feeds. Every attempt should first be made to identify and correct the causes for low milk production before trying a milk booster.
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