Breastfeeding

Homeopathy for breastfeeding

I wish I knew about homeopathy for breastfeeding when I had my first baby. While giving birth was an amazing experience for me, breastfeeding was pure torture. I’ve never felt so much pain. I kept saying I’d rather go through ten labours than nurse my baby for fifteen minutes. It was excruciating. My nipples cracked and bled, and every time my baby latched, tears streamed down my face, and I couldn’t keep from jumping up. As if a thousand needles stabbed my nipples, the pain was so sharp and cutting, it was horrendous.

I knew how important breast-feeding was for my baby, and giving it up was unthinkable. But here I was, almost defeated by the pain and almost ready to give up. First, I thought I’d give it another day. Just to last through this day. Then just one more week. Then at least till the end of her first month. This way, little step at a time, I continued to nurse her until my nipples healed. I felt fully comfortable breastfeeding only after three months. If only I knew about homeopathy for breastfeeding, it would’ve saved me so many tears.

Supply and demand

With my second baby things were much easier. She latched on as soon as she was born and didn’t let go for a minute during the first three days. It did hurt but nothing like the first time around. The nurse in the hospital was laughing:

What a greedy baby. She is working up her milk supply.

Breastfeeding is a game of supply and demand. The longer the baby spends at the breast, the more prolactin is released. Prolactin is a hormone that causes the body to produce milk. But if the baby doesn’t empty the breasts, the excess milk left in them slows down the release of prolactin and, as a result, less milk is produced. Sure enough, after those first few days of constant suckling my breasts were exploding with milk.

Homeopathy for breastfeeding – oversupply

Within a few days my milk supply became more even, and I didn’t need to do anything about it apart from nursing on demand. Some women need help with oversupply though. La Leche League offers great advice on this here. Homeopathic remedies that help with oversupply include:

• Belladonna
• Bryonia
• Calcarea carbonica
• Phytolacca
• Pulsatilla

Homeopathy for breastfeeding – low milk supply

When the baby is born, the delivery of the placenta triggers the production of milk. True lactation failure is very rare. A lot of women worry about low milk supply when in reality everything is going just fine. Signs that the baby is getting enough milk are:

• baby is gaining weight,
• has 6 or more wet nappies,
• and has 3-4 bowel movements in 24 hours.

If you want to increase your milk supply, consider eating more of these foods:

• Barley: increases prolactin because it is a rich source of beta-glucan.
• Fennel: contains phytoestrogens which may help with milk production. Both the bulb and the seeds, called fenugreek, are good.
• Papaya: has been used to increase milk supply for generations in Thailand and other Asian countries.

Homeopathic remedies to increase milk production:

• Asafoetida
• Dulcamara
• Pulsatilla
• Urtica Urens

Don’t be surprised to see Pulsatilla in both sections, for oversupply and for undersupply. Homeopathy corrects and balances organs’ functions, so Pulsatilla may be indicated in both situations. If the rest of the symptoms fit, it will make the milk supply just right.

If you had issues with milk production in previous pregnancies, consider supplementing with Calc phos 3x for two or three months before your due date.

One of the most common issues that come up during breastfeeding is mastitis. This topic deserves its own separate post.

Homeopathy for breastfeeding – cracked sore nipples

Some remedies that may help with this issue include:

• Calendula: wonderful healer of all wounds. You can take Calendula alone or alternate it with the remedy that matches your symptoms better. Also, you can apply calendula or chamomile cream or bathe nipples in calendula solution.
• Castor equi: fantastic remedy for deep and painful cracks and ulcerated nipples. Thickens epithelium and skin.
• Graphites: sore, cracked and blistered nipples.
• Phytolacca: pain in and radiating around the nipple and the whole breast, may even radiate throughout the whole body. Mastitis accompanied by cracked nipples and lumpy breasts.
• Silica: inverted nipples. Cutting, stitching pains.
• Hydrastis: inverted, sore, and cracked nipples. Pain on sneezing.

I hope your breastfeeding journey is smooth and brings you and your baby lots of joy. If you experience any issues and struggle to resolve them using the suggestions in this post, please reach out to me. I am here and would love to help.