Increasing Production

Increasing the milk production is a very critical concern of many breastfeeding women. Fortunately the human lactation system is very flexible and can be increased in most circumstances, although not always to a full supply.

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There is no definitive recipe for making more milk.  There are different causes of low milk production, so the techniques that work for one mother are not necessarily the best methods for another.  This is because the effectiveness of the techniques used to increase milk production depends on the actual cause, such breastfeeding management, something the baby is doing, a physiological cause in your body such hormones, or damage to your ducts and nerves, such as from breast surgery. Even if you think you know for sure, it doesn't hurt to consider the possibility of additional causes, because only when all causes are addressed can you make as much milk as possible.

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Techniques to increase milk production are most effective when they specifically target the causes, which are not always a single factor. For instance, a woman may have had breast augmentation using the periareolar incision, which can damage nerves critical to milk release. But she also may have underlying polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is corrolated with tubular shaped breasts that often do not have enough mammary glands. The reason she wanted to have cosmetic surgery in the first place was to correct her irregularly shaped breasts. Addressing her PCOS in addition to traditional methods of increasing milk production is likely to result in more milk production than just following the traditional methods alone.