Sleep Affects Breastfeeding

Sleep and Breastfeeding         

Breastfeeding is often a challenge to many new mothers. Often, poor supply and engorgement leads to anxiety and depression.

However, the more depressed and stress you are, the less milk you produce!

Adequate sleep promotes healthier internal hormones flow to produce more milk supply. A Breastfeeding mother needs 8-10 hours sleep daily to upkeep her daily activities. Proper rest also harmonize new mother's spirit and calmness.

Not only that, lack of sleep produces less quality (less nutritious) breast milk, which may affect baby growth. Lack of sleep leads to stress, anxiety, depression, mood swing and poor appetite.

Stressing over inadequate milk supply can further reduce the supply. To produce breast milk, naturally, our body needs Prolactin (produce milk) and Oxytocin (release milk) hormones. However, stress body releases natural hormones that may blocked the release of Qxytocin "milk let down" effect during breastfeeding. 

In TCM, Anxiety, fear and depression are associated with kidney and liver function, when breastfeeding depends largely on kidney, liver and spleen function. Kidney stores our essence  and supplies nutritional benefits to our newborn.

So, keep calm, massage breast to increase flow and continue pumping after feed if you can still feel tenderness over both breast, helps to stimulate continuous milk production.

Apart from consuming more soup and confinement drink, nutritious food like pig trotters, herbs, chicken soup, fish and also sea cucumber soup offer more protein, calcium and fats that generates more quality breast milk.

Simple herbs combination, like Red Dates and Huang Qi are good and easy selection to promote better internal flow that stimulates breast milk production. Nursing Herbal Soup is one of the many concoction that helps stimulate breastmilk production. 

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