Maintaining Milk Supply when Mother and Baby are Apart

Some mothers overflow with milk no matter what they do. Others have more trouble maintaining milk supply when they are regularly apart from baby. Here are some ideas for keeping your milk supply up.

• Give yourself two weeks to store milk and practice different feeding methods before returning to work. Remember that there are lots of ways to get milk into a baby so if your baby refuses a bottle, consider using a sippy cup or medicine spoon.
• Consider returning to work on a Thursday so you only have to prepare for a couple of days before you have a weekend to recover.
• Try an automatic double pump. For some mothers the pump doesn't matter, for others it really makes a difference. Some manual pumps have bubble inserts that help massage the breasts during pumping. These inserts can also be used with electric double pumps.
• Pump frequently during the day, at least every three hours, every two hours if your milk supply is declining. Shorter frequent pumping sessions will produce more milk than longer pumping sessions further apart. When figuring out how long your day is, be sure to include commute time: an 8 hour day can stretch to 10 hours if you have a long drive.
• Often more frequent, shorter separations are easier to manage than fewer, longer separations. For example, if you are working twenty hours per week, four five-hour days will be easier than two ten-hour days.
• Applying heat to the breasts or massaging the breasts can stimulate let-down. Some mothers say that keeping a picture of their baby in front of them while they're pumping can help stimulate letdown.
• Take a break during pumping to massage, stroke, and shake your breasts. This will sometimes stimulate another letdown.
• Have your baby at your breast as often as possible when you're at home. Many mothers who are away during the day find that nighttime nursings are essential in keeping milk supply up. This is a time to let other projects, housework, gourmet meals, etc. go by the wayside for a few months.
• Can your baby’s caregiver bring your baby to you during the day? Your baby is more efficient at getting milk than any pump, so a lunch time nursing break will make a big difference.
• If you can, take a nursing vacation. One or two days with baby at your breast can make a tremendous difference.
• Some herbal preparations have been reported to increase milk supply. Herbs from www.sweetherbmedicinals.com are available for purchase at BlossomBirth.

Some of these recommendations sound like they'll take a lot of time. But in just a few months, sometime around the middle of your baby's first year, you'll start introducing solid foods and a few months after that may find that you don't need to pump at all during the day. This is less time than you were pregnant.

Cindy Howard, IBCLC

Blossom Birth provides comprehensive lactation support, offering individual lactation appointments, phone and email support. For more information, see our website: http://blossombirth.org/lactation_support.html. We also encourage you to come to our Breastfeeding Support Group, which meets every Wednesday from 1:30-3:00. $15 drop-in or free with a current Parent-Baby Group card.

Blossom's Mother's Day Pampering Celebration

Long gone are the days when I get to stay in bed and sleep in – I’m a mother now. My cute, adorable alarm clock, also known as my 5-month-old daughter, wakes me up around 5:00am to start our day. This consists of round-the-clock feedings, diaper changes, playing, napping, going for a walk, laundry, bath, story time and bed. Our days can also include melt-downs (sometimes her, sometimes me). It’s a 24/7 job, no vacation time, but lots of perks (like the smile she greets me with each morning, hearing her laugh and squeal with delight, and our “chatting” time while she’s on the changing table).

While motherhood has been one of the most rewarding experiences, I sometimes miss components of my former pre-baby life such as curling up for hours with a good book, taking a nice long shower, and dressing up. Now my daily wardrobe usually consists of sweats (with one of a kind designer spit-up patterns) or maternity wear (I still don’t fit my pre-pregnancy jeans, or as I now call them, my “skinny jeans”). Winter has given way to spring and I can no longer use the excuse that the hair on my legs will help keep me warmer when the reality is I can’t find my shaver or the time to use it! Sleeping a consistent 5 hours has become like a little slice of heaven. And pooping is now a glorious event in our house, complete with a song and dance! Maybe it’s just me, but some days I’m still in my morning pajamas when my husband gets home from work in the evening. Yup, life sure is different – in a good way!

Through it all, I keep hearing “mothers also need to take care of themselves.” With all the care-taking and giving mothers do, it’s sometimes easy for us to forget to give to ourselves (you know you’re a new mother when basic grooming has become a luxury!). I understand the need to indulge once in awhile, it’s just the actual follow through that gets lost in translation. Lucky for us mothers and mothers-to-be, Blossom has the solution. It’s that time of year again – Blossom’s Mother’s Day Pampering Celebration!

This is an annual event held in honor of mothers. It’s a chance to celebrate and pamper ourselves – and support Blossom all at the same time! There are two components to this year’s event: an Open House and an Online Pampering Store.

Blossom’s Open House on Saturday, May 8^th provides the perfect opportunity get together with other moms and soon-to-be moms for a little R & R!  Throughout the day, enjoy workshops designed to de-stress, enrich, and support you on your journey to and through motherhood. Topics include

·         Prenatal Yoga

·         Body Talk

·         Birth Practice

·         Prenatal Nutrition and Stress Reduction

·         Yoga and the Art of Surrender

·         What do you do with your photos?

·         Organic Garden Facials

·         BabySpirit Meditation

·         Eating for Conception and Good Health

·         Women's Red Tent: Welcoming the Great Mother

If you’d like to sign up for a session, do so by going to the Open House webpage and clicking on the registration button to the right of your chosen workshop. All sessions take place at our Blossom office. Workshops are free of charge, but pre-registration is required as space is limited. Your registration includes a free gift bag filled with goodies and coupons valued at up to $50.

Can’t make it to Blossom for the Open House, or want more pampering? Check out Blossom’s Online Pampering Store. It’s packed with wonderful gift certificates and products all generously donated by businesses in the area. Any dads or dads-to-be in need of a little help finding the perfect mother’s day gift for their special woman? There’s bound to be something for every mom, with services and products in several categories. Choose from Spa and Massage, Baby Products, Health and Wellness, Around Town, Dining Out, Gift baskets and Blossoms, Household Products and Services, Birth and Early Parenting Services, and Miscellaneous Fun.  All the proceeds from the pampering store directly benefit Blossom’s work to support growing families – so go on and splurge, and feel good about it!

In the spirit of honoring mothers, join us by coming to the Open House and/or pampering yourself, Blossom style! Thank you to our event sponsors: Whole Child Wellness, Watercourse Way, Barefoot & Pregnant, Naturell, and Align the Self.

Other ways to celebrate moms and help Blossom keep its doors open and its programs and services expanding:

• Make a donation to Blossom in honor of a special mom in your life
• Shop Blossom Affiliates – Blossom receives a percentage every time you purchase goods or services through our merchant affiliates

So, mothers out there, for all you do – give the gift of pampering to yourself (or better yet, let your significant other give it to you!) Hope you can join us!  Happy Mother’s Day!

Michelle de Jesus

Registration Coordinator

Keeping Jenny’s Light Shining Bright

One evening about a year ago, after my fourteen month old daughter was fed, bathed, nursed and asleep, I began my evening routine of decompressing by sitting at the computer: checking email, following blogs, googling topics people had mentioned during the day.  That morning a mom had told me about a foundation called Jenny’s Light named after her friend’s twin sister. As I read Jenny’s story, tears flowed down my face uncontrollably.  Her story was so real, so close to me.  We shared a bond of being new moms, yet our lives had taken such different paths.

On December 19, 2007, Jenny Gibbs Bankston and her seven-week-old baby died tragically.  Jenny suffered silently with postpartum depression, and unfortunately, her symptoms went undiagnosed. As a new mom, I immediately related to the feelings of anxiety, insecurity, sleep deprivation, guilt, and shame. I was surprised by how close to the surface all these emotions remained, well past my daughter’s first birthday.

Postpartum Depression (PPD) and/or anxiety affect about one in eight of us. Unlike Baby Blues, that last about two weeks after delivery and affect about 80% of new moms, PPD occurs any time in the first year or beyond. Social support, individual and group counseling and sometimes medication can help women work through and treat postpartum depression. New moms can benefit from knowing that they are not alone, that they are not to blame for these unexpected feelings and that there is a community of supportive people around them. 

Take a minute to check-in with a new mom today to see how she is doing and if possible, do one tangible thing to help: bring over some food, offer to hold her baby while she takes a shower, or go for a walk together.  Give her space to express herself and destigmatize any sadness or anxiety she may be feeling.  Reassure her that with help, she can regain a feeling of normalcy.

At Blossom we are committed to providing a supportive, welcoming community and resource center to new and expected moms. Blossom’s weekly facilitated Pregnancy and Postpartum Moods and Challenges Support Group, held on Wednesdays from 10-11:30 am, can provide an important source of community and friendship. We also offer a class called Adjusting to Parenthood: Surviving the First Six Weeks, for expectant moms and their partners to learn about, anticipate and prepare for life after their baby arrives. The list below includes a number of excellent resources in the Bay Area and on-line for more information about PPD.

I invite you to join me and keep Jenny’s Light shining bright by participating in The 2nd Annual Jenny’s Light 5k Charity Run on Sunday March 7, 2010 in Los Gatos, CA at 10 am, rain or shine! Join the Blossom Team in Training! Sign up today to register for the run- a great way to help raise money and awareness about PPD.  This Saturday, January 16, 2010 we are starting weekly informal practice runs (I use the term loosely- jog, walk is more realistic!), in Palo Alto at 10am.  Send me a note at mora@blossombirth.org if you’d like to meet up. If you’d like to be a volunteer at the run, email me as well - we can use all the help we can get! This is a photograph of me with my daughter and fellow participants at last year's run.

Here is a list of additional Postpartum Support Services and Resources:
Blossom Birth, 650-321-2326
El Camino Hospital’s Maternal Outreach Mood Services, 650-988-7841
Bay Area Postpartum Warmline, 1-888-773-7090
SOLACE, 1-877-SOLACE4

Jenny’s Light Foundation

Postpartum Support International, 1800-944-4PPD
www.mededppd.org
http://www.mommiescrytoo.com/
http://1800ppdmoms.org/PSG.html
http://placentabenefits.info/index.asp

Please leave us a comment with resources that you have found helpful or personal strategies you has used to address postpartum depression and anxiety. Together we can continue to spread awareness about PPD and break the silence that keeps many women from reaching out for community and support.

Warm regards,
Mora (Director, Blossom Birth)