Important Things to Understand About Lactation
Did you know that the frequency of feeding on Day 1 will directly influence your baby's milk intake on Day 3 and 5? And that women generally only have around a couple of teaspoons of colostrum in their breasts on the day of their baby's birth?
Once the placenta is delivered, the breasts begin to step up milk production, concentrating helpful protective proteins in the colostrum. The act of sucking and feeding then stimulates the growth of milk receptor sites in the breast which respond to the hormone prolactin.
Building up a plentiful number of prolactin sites is central for milk production - so frequent flexible feeding is important.
If your baby is separated from being with you constantly - say for sugar level monitoring or light therapy for jaundice, you will help yourself produce enough milk for him if you pump or hand express after every feed, and do not miss a feed. These babies are often fed with formula which gives them a fuller tummy than they would otherwise get from you - which delays them looking for the next feed. Missing out on the demand feeding and cluster feeding patterns that are part and parcel of the usual way that a baby helps to bring his mother's milk in, will have a direct lowering effect on your milk supply at Day 3 and 5 when you are likely to be home with him. You just have to mimic that your baby is hungry and trick the brain into stepping up milk production.
Around Day 9 your breasts enter a different phase of lactation which is driven by a demand and supply feedback loop. In other words, what your baby seeks to take from the breast largely determines the amount of milk you will now make - though it can take many more weeks for women to settle into breastfeeding and fully establish their milk supply.
In the early days and weeks, be careful about introducing a bottle in the middle of the night, as the feedback loop doesn’t recognise that you are just trying to get more rest. It registers that bub isn't hungry and can delay establishing or downgrade your supply.