Review of Making More Milk

Review of Making More Milk by Diana West IBCLC and Lisa Marasco IBCLC MA.

 The Breastfeeding Mothers Guide to Making More Milk was published this year.  It is a comprehensive guide for lactation professionals and mothers on the issue of low milk supply. Both the authors are experts in the area of low milk supply. It is currently the only book on the market that completely looks at this problem.  The book is  written in a very easy to read, friendly format – therefore suitable for mothers and anyone working/helping breastfeeding mothers and babies.

The book is divided into sections : what’s normal  and what’s not, how to achieve an optimal milk supply in the early days ,  how to know if there really is a problem,  is it the baby or the mother ? . The authors then go on to look at ways of increasing milk supply, guidelines of when to start supplements and how much to give and when to stop. Physical methods of increasing milk supply are explained and then galactalogues are divided into herbal and pharmaceutical. All chapters are referenced and there is a very handy galactalogue table with therapeutic dosages, potential side effects and interactions   with other drugs, herbs. The last chapter is titled “Making Peace with your Milk Supply” and is beautifully written with compassion and hope for the future.

One of the most helpful chapters in the book is about supplementing. It looks at different methods – paced bottle feeding is explained, choosing the right teat and flow rate for a baby, and finally the “Finish at the Breast Method”. This is where the baby has the supplement first, then finish’s on the breast. This has been found to work well with the underweight baby – giving the supplement first gives the baby the energy to breastfeed well and also the baby learns to associate the euphoria of fullness with the breast and not the bottle. The mother also gets the satisfaction of contented “milk drunk “baby falling asleep at the breast.  

As an IBCLC in private practice I see quite a lot of mothers with perceived and actual low milk supply. This book was a godsend!  I knew a lot of the material but it put the whole jigsaw together. It has helped me immensely in my work with mothers and babies and also teaching  IBCLC exam prep  students.  I have 4 copies of the book - one is precious as it  was signed by Diana and Lisa at the PPLC conference in Philadelphia this year. The other copies, I lend out to clients and they post it back to me.  I think it’s better for mothers to get their information from a reputable source rather than the internet and discussion boards.  Of course, I’m also following up with them to discuss different strategies and offer encouragement.   

The book is available on Amazon and other internet book stores.  I highly recommend it!