The ABC’s Of Breastfeeding: Drinking Water & Milk Supply
I know I talk about breastfeeding frequently (planning at least 26 posts on it!), but not all of my children were breastfed. My oldest has a rare genetic condition and required tube feeding for his first year of life (another 'd' letter helped us greatly: donor milk!). He was hospitalized for his first six weeks; I was a stressed out brand new mom, wanting to do my utter best for him (don't we all?). I remember sitting in my CNM's office and telling her how much I was pumping, and how much water I was trying to drink to get my supply up. Her response mystified me. "Drinking water is like wearing a seat belt; of course they're both good things to do, but wearing a seat belt doesn't make you a good mom and drinking more water won't boost your milk supply."
Say what? That sounded like something I wanted to do SO MUCH more research on, but with a baby in the hospital and pumping around the clock, I just tucked her statement back into my mental filing cabinet to come back to a few years later.
And here we are (more than a few years later...ahem) and I've done more reading on the subject. So many mothers stress about guzzling down plenty of water just to keep supply up, and it turns out that most of our bodies are designed to pretty much rock milk production without pumping it up with extra fluid. And for those of us who do have medical issues or struggles with low supply, there are more productive to look for other ways to achieve a breastfeeding relationship (we'll look for them more in future posts, but: I cannot say enough about frequent nursing sessions and nursing at night!)
One way to think about this: do we tell a woman with an oversupply problem to make sure she reduces her water intake? No, and we understand that this is probably not a good idea. The reverse is pretty true as well; adding water to a woman's intake does not necessarily mean more milk.
What I also find fascinating is that we've got good information from studying nursing women who celebrate Ramadan where solid fasting happens; their milk production does not drop during the fasting period.
And in one study the Institute of Medicine Reviewed, results worked surprisingly the opposite way: "Neither infant growth in the first month nor duration of breastfeeding differed between groups. Milk intake at a test feed on the eighth day post partum tended to be lower in the high-fluids group." (referenced here)
You might be saying, "But nursing always makes me so thirsty!" And that's true, for sure. You should definitely drink to thirst and keeping a water bottle nearby when nursing is really important. But the thirst has more to do with a surge in hormones than a sign of dehydration on your part. Nursing releases oxytocin, which can cause thirst (and make you warmer... so make sure you have lots of cold water!)
Of course, I wouldn't be a good doula if I didn't make sure women are staying hydrated! You need water. You need water to feel rested, to have more energy, think more clearly, help your skin, your body, all of you! So don't read this post and skip drinking water. But often times I see moms needlessly feeling miserable and stressed trying to keep up with a rigorous water schedule on (on top of taking care of a new baby!), when they really could benefit so much more from snuggling with their baby, bonding, and truly enjoying as much as possible of the early breastfeeding days.