Milk didn't come in after birth

[EileenJ]

I delivered my first child after being induced, however my milk didn't come in after birth and my son lost a large amount of weight. I was put on medication to bring my milk in and had to feed every 3hrs, I'd feed for up to 1hr, then express while my husband topped up my son with a bottle. I eventually dropped the bottles and tried to go all breast, but pretty much as soon as I went off the medication, my milk disappeared, my breasts never ever felt remotely 'full' or even hard. At 6 weeks I was going insane with a screaming child and went to the bottle which I don't regret for a moment.
My mum had a couple of babies and didn't have any milk either.
I'm thinking about getting pregnant again and would like to know if there is anything I can do during pregnancy to increase my chances of having a good supply. Are there any supplements I can take or any natural remedies that may assist other than the normal vitamin supplements?
Thanks

[bubhub]

Hi Eileen
What a challenging and stressful experience for you. There could be a
variety of reasons contributing to your breastfeeding difficulties - please
dont let your mother's experience persuade you that you will have the same
problems next time - there isnt a genetic predisposition to breastfeeding
difficulties. Your situation could have been related to your birth induction
and a cascade of intervention after that - from your baby being given
bottles early on to all the related stress of expressing/concerns about
your
babys unsettled behaviour etc - or you may have needed ongoing help with
medication to enhance your supply.

Firstly, to give yourself the best possible beginning next time, learn all
you can about having a natural birth experience -I recommend reading 'Gentle
Birth, Gentle Mothering' By Dr Sarah Buckley ( www.sarahjbuckley.com.au (http://www.sarahjbuckley.com.au)) . A
natural birth will help with the optimal hormonal status for lactation. As
soon as possible after birth (immediately is best) snuggle your baby skin to
skin -again this stimulates your hormones to initiate breastfeeding. At any
time during breastfeeding
skin to skin contact helps boost milk production hormones. As far as natural
remedies to enhance milk production yoiu could try Blessed Thistle tablets
or fenugreek. It is better though to seek help from a lactation consultant
during pregnancy. She can take a thorough history and help you work out an
individualised plan so that you have an easier time this time. As I have
mentioned ina few posts, subsequent lactations are usually easier with mum
producing more milk, earlier with each birth depsite what happened
previously, but there is nothing liek feeling supported right from the
start.

Good luck,
Pinky