Is using breastmilk stimulants safe for mothers and babies?

Breast stimulants are a solution sought by many mothers with young children. Although this drug has many positive effects, it also has many potential risks.

Breast milk is the best food for babies and young children, but there are many cases where mothers cannot meet their baby's needs and need the help of breastmilk stimulants. So what is breastmilk stimulant and if used a lot, what effects does it have on the health of mother and baby? Let aFamilyToday Health follow up with the following shares to get answers to all the questions you are wondering.

What is breast milk stimulant?

Breast milk stimulants are actually drugs that stimulate the body to secrete two types of hormones, prolactin and oxytocin. These are two hormones that play an important role in milk production. Prolactin helps with milk production, oxytocin helps release milk.

After giving birth, every time you breastfeed or pump, your body releases prolactin. At this time, milk will be produced and stored in the milk follicles. If the levels of prolactin are too low, the amount of breast milk decreases. Meanwhile, the hormone oxytocin is released when the baby (or breast pump) starts to suck and pull the nipple into the mouth. Oxytocin will contract the muscles around the follicle, push the milk out of the follicle, into the ducts and travel to the nipple and into the baby's mouth.

In what cases are breastmilk stimulants often used?

If you take it under the supervision of a doctor, breastmilk stimulants will help you to restore your milk supply or increase your milk production. For the most part, these drugs can be used in the following situations:

You want to breastfeed your baby

You have weaned your baby and want to feed your baby again

Your baby is being cared for in the hospital, but the amount of breastmilk secreted is too little.

If you have tried several ways to increase your milk supply and still have not been successful, you can try talking to your doctor about using the right stimulants.

In addition, you can refer to how to increase breastmilk with cereals through the article Milk-healthy cereals help mothers call for more milk to make babies full.

Common breastmilk stimulants

There are many different types of breast milk stimulants on the market, but the two most popular are the following:

Metoclopramide (Reglan)

Metoclopramide is a medicine used to treat stomach problems such as reflux or to combat nausea and vomiting after surgery. In addition to this effect, metoclopramide also works to block the release of dopamine in the central nervous system, thereby increasing prolactin levels in the blood, helping to increase milk secretion. In general, this is a fairly commonly used breastmilk stimulant, which usually works after a few days and will last until you stop taking it.

Common side effects

When taking metoclopramide, you may experience drowsiness, headache, or restlessness. In addition, you may also experience more rare symptoms such as depression , movement disorders if taken in high doses for a long time.

Besides, when using, you should also not drink for longer than 12 weeks. In particular, if you have depression, seizure disorder, asthma or high blood pressure then use should also be avoided.

Domperidone (Motilium)

Like metoclopramide, this is also a medicine used to treat stomach ailments. Besides, domperidone also works to increase prolactin levels in the blood, helping to increase breast milk secretion. According to research, this drug is believed to be safe and causes less side effects than metoclopramide.

Common side effects

Some of the common side effects from using this medication are usually headache, stomach cramps, and dry mouth.

Oxytocin

Oxytocin is a nasal spray that works to increase breast milk secretion in postpartum women. Studies show that this drug can increase milk production 3 to 5 times in mothers having their first child and 2 times increase in milk production in mothers with second childbirth. However, the side effects of this medication are currently not widely studied, so you should still limit your use.

Other drugs

Sedative drugs such as chlorpromazine (Thorazine), haloperidol (Haldol), and the blood pressure drug methyldopa (Aldomet) can also be used to stimulate the body to produce breast milk. However, these drugs often have a lot of dangerous side effects. Therefore, you need to consider carefully and ask your doctor before using.

In general, breastmilk stimulants have some potential side effects and can be dangerous. Therefore, you should never take any medicine without first consulting your doctor, especially if you are pregnant or breast-feeding.

How to increase secretion of breast milk naturally

Before using breastmilk stimulants, here are some ways to increase breast milk production:

Drink plenty of water every day

The composition of breast milk is 88% water, so if you do not replenish water regularly, your breast milk production will decrease. If the average person only needs to drink 2 liters of water a day, for mothers who are breastfeeding, they have to drink 3 liters of water a day. 

Get plenty of rest, avoid stress

Studies have shown that stress can reduce breast milk production. Therefore, to improve milk supply, getting enough sleep each day is extremely essential. However, for new mothers, this is very difficult to do because it will take time to adapt and change many habits when caring for and nurturing your newborn.

The first 6 weeks of life are a time for you to recover both physically and mentally. In addition, this is also a very important stage to establish your milk supply. Therefore, during this time, make sure that you get adequate rest, relaxation, and avoid stress and overwork.

Actively breastfeed

Usually, the amount of breast milk produced more or less depends on the principle of supply and demand. The more mothers breastfeed, the more milk will release. Therefore, you can comfortably feed your baby when he or she feels hungry without having to follow any schedule. Actively breastfeeding not only helps to quickly stabilize the milk supply, stimulate more milk production, but also help you lose weight after giving birth. 

Actively stimulate milk

To stimulate your body to produce more milk, you can express between feedings or express after your baby is full. Expressed milk can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer for feeding when needed.

Regularly stimulating milk, enough times from 8-10 times / day will help milk come back more steadily. To express milk you can either use a hand or a milking machine. The milking machine is a good option, however, you should avoid overusing it. In addition, when using, you should also choose the type of machine with good quality and suitable for you.

If you do not know how to manage breast milk, you should refer to the article Revealing how to protect breast milk properly to ensure the supply of breast milk. 

Maintain a scientific diet

During lactation, in order for the milk to come in abundance and stability, you also need to pay attention to your diet. You should eat a variety of foods rich in vitamins, minerals, that stimulate milk such as carrots, radishes, dark green vegetables, whole grains (oats, barley), beans (green beans, lentils, almonds, cashews) ...

Close to the baby

Many scientific studies have proven that there is a link between maternal care behavior and the amount of milk secreted. Accordingly, regular caressing and cuddling will stimulate the mother's body to release the hormones oxytocin and prolactin, good for the production of breast milk.

Use natural dairy products

Currently, there are quite a few dairy products on the market, including functional foods and processed herbs. However, if you want to use it, you also need to consult your doctor to ensure the safety of both you and your baby.

Milk tea and milk nuggets are the products that many mothers love. The main ingredients of these products are usually natural herbs such as milk thistle, black musk, wild ginseng, blood grass tea, chrysanthemum tea, clover tea, dandelion tea ... to help the body heat up. , detoxification, stimulates digestion, metabolism of energy. Although these products can help milk to return quickly, if taken for a long time, there are some potential side effects such as headache, dizziness, hypotension, and even complete milk loss. In addition, the issue of origin and origin of these teas should also be considered. There are a number of herbal teas that are widely available on the market that do not have strict quality control. So when choosing, you need to be very careful.

In general, breastmilk stimulants are considered safe for you and your baby if you follow your doctor's instructions and take them in moderate amounts. However, no matter what, drugs still have potential side effects, so you should try natural methods of stimulation first, if not effective, switch to using these drugs. Please.