Today we get into our fourth and final fact sheet on breast milk. Producing breast milk is not child’s play (no pun intended). It consumes 25 – 30% of the body’s energy; the brain only uses 20% by comparison.
Did you know? The duration and frequency of breastfeeding vary by background characteristics of the mother. At the national level, the median duration of any breastfeeding is over 18 months. The median durations of exclusive breastfeeding and full breastfeeding (breastfeeding plus plain water only) are both less than one month. Median length of breastfeeding tends to be longer in rural areas (19.2 months) than in urban areas (17.6 months); and amongst uneducated women (20.1 months) compared with women who have some primary education (19.0 months) or secondary education (17.8 months). Breastfeeding duration is longest in Masvingo province (20.1 months) and shortest in Bulawayo (16.8 months).
The general composition of breast milk changes with time according to the baby’s needs. The foremilk satisfies the baby’s thirst when each nursing session begins due to its high content. The hindmilk is more abundant in fat to provide the calorie-dense nutrition a baby requires. Breast milk is necessary for postnatal intestinal function, immune ontogeny, and brain development.
Almost 75% of all moms produce more milk in their right breast, whether they are right- or left- handed.
Mama’s body is constantly making the perfect milk for baby. Milk changes its nutritional profile as baby grows (milk made for a 3 month old is different than for a 9 month old). Milk can even change day to day—for example, water content may increase during times of hot weather and baby-sickness to provide extra hydration.
Mama’s breasts can detect even a one degree fluctuation in baby’s body temperature and adjust accordingly to heat up or cool down baby as needed. This is one reason skin-to-skin contact in the early days is so crucial.
Your breast size has nothing to do with the amount of milk that you produce. Some mothers have a larger storage capacity, but all mothers produce about the same amount of milk at one time.
A baby will breastfeed until they’re full, not until they “empty” your breast. On average, babies remove 67% of the milk you have available – this amount can vary widely among moms.
Your milk sprays out of many holes, not just one. Women can have as few as three or as many as twenty something holes.
The metabolic energy needed to breastfeed a baby each day is the amount you’d use to walk over 11 kilometres!
Studies suggest that breastfeeding one baby for one year takes roughly 1,800 hours. A full-time job with 3 weeks’ vacation is 1,960 hours.
Breast Milk isn’t always white. Rainbow diet? Rainbow milk!
The flavour of breast milk changes depending on what you eat
It’s possible to breastfeed from one breast only – and breastfeed twins, and even triplets!
Breast milk is digested in one and a half hours, which is why some babies feed so frequently (it’s not because your supply is low).
You make more watery or thirst quenching milk in the morning, and less volume but fattier milk in the evening. This is why your baby may want to cluster feed or fuss feed in the evenings.
Your milk producing hormone prolactin is highest in the middle of the night. This spike helps make more milk for the next day and why you should try to avoid skipping the 2am feed/cluster feeds.
Let-down can be faster in one breast and can result in baby preferring that breast.
Breastfeeding helps your uterus return to its normal size after childbirth.
Expressed breast milk separates into milk and cream when stored (you just need to swirl it before use).
Feeding baby in an upright position, if the mother’s milk supply is rapid, can prevent wind by slowing down the speed at which baby swallows the milk.
If baby is refusing one breast, try the slide-over position – simply slide baby across from the preferred breast to the other breast, in the same position.
Some mothers experience a slight drop in milk supply when they have a period but supply will increase again afterwards.
When a baby is teething, sore gums may make him or her feed differently, which can cause sore nipples – make sure the baby is positioned correctly to prevent damage.
There is a surprising mechanism that moves calcium and phosphate from a nursing mother’s bones to her breast milk so that her nursing infant has the minerals to build strong bones.
How to increase milk supply
Ongoing, long-term milk production depends mostly on milk removal. The more often and completely it is removed, the more milk the breasts make. The opposite is also true. When milk is removed less often or not enough is removed, the breasts get the signal to slow milk production and make less.
To fully empty the breast, a baby must have a good latch. A baby must latch deeply onto the breast and use the structures in his or her mouth to create intermittent suction, compress the breast with his or her mouth, and swallow. When your baby does this, your body will respond to the signal by releasing the hormone oxytocin. This leads to the release of larger volumes of milk—a process known as milk “let down.”
You can use milk expression to fully empty your breasts, if your baby cannot or you are separated from him or her. You can express milk by hand by compressing the breast tissue with your hands. You can also express milk with a breast pump.
