Breastfeeding provides all your baby’s nutritional requirements for strong, healthy growth and allows you to bond and spend relaxing down-time with your baby. Postnatal nutritional deficiencies, fatigue and stress can all make breastfeeding a bit of a challenge and many new mothers worry that they don’t have enough breast milk to satisfy their baby’s requirements, increasing stress levels even further.

Improving breast milk supply with herbs

• Fenugreek - one of the best herbs to stimulate breast milk production and enrich milk flow. One impressive anecdotal report of 1,200 women taking Fenugreek found that generally all the participants had an increase in breast milk production with 24-72 hours.

• Blessed thistle - one of the best herbs to establish a reliable supply of breast milk and is particularly good for tired and stressed mothers due to its tonic affect. Its ability to improve appetite via the mother’s breast milk will also assist babies who are poor feeders. 

5 important nutrients while breastfeeding

While breastfeeding, your nutritional requirements are greatly increased, even more so than when you were pregnant. A healthy diet, with added nutritional support from a high quality pregnancy and breastfeeding multivitamin, can help to fill the gap for various postnatal nutritional deficiencies that may negatively affect your baby’s growth and development.

1. Iodine and choline - essential for the healthy development of your baby’s brain and nervous system. Your baby is solely reliant on your healthy iodine levels
2. B vitamins - assist in energy production, so help to support the increased energy demands
3. Vitamin D - necessary for muscle and nerve development, and reduces the risk of rickets
4. Zinc - plays an important role in DNA replication, growth and development. Deficiency is common in breastfeeding women
5. Iron - Low haemoglobin levels are common for first time mothers contributing to post- natal fatigue. Supplemental iron bisglycinate is recommended when iron levels are low as this form has fewer side effects compared to other types of iron.

Improving energy and reducing stress while breastfeeding with herbs

Low energy and stress can impact your ability to breastfeed successfully by slowing down the production of your ‘cuddle’ hormone oxytocin which is involved in the let-down and flow of breast milk.

• Siberian Ginseng is a revitalising and restorative herb that helps to relieve fatigue, exhaustion, general debility, tiredness and stress. Siberian Ginseng helps your body to ‘adapt and cope’ during periods of stress by normalising your body functions, increasing your resistance to stress and improving energy levels.

• Oats seed is a nervous system tonic herb with mild stimulating activity that helps relieve nervous exhaustion, tension, debility and to elevate mood. Oats seed provides a rich, concentrated nutritional source of vitamins, minerals and amino acids that can help to improve energy levels.

Mr Vitamins recommends

Herbs of Gold Products for Breastfeeding

• SHOP NOW: Breastfeeding Support
• SHOP NOW: Postnatal Lift
• SHOP NOW: Pregnancy Plus 1-2-3