Ep 28: Possible reasons you may have low milk supply and how to help increase it with Victoria

Today I am speaking with Victoria with Milk Made Mama and she is here to speak with us about low milk supply. She is another lactation educator and I found her information valuable. If you are no longer a breastfeeding mom, feel free to pass this on to someone who you know who is either pregnant or a new mom because I find this information very valuable and think that there is so much information to be gleaned from Victoria's conversation with me in regards to low milk supply and how you can continue to support your child through breastfeeding.

Victoria's Information:
Freemium: https://milkmademama.com/raisinghealthyhumans/
Galactagogue Guide: https://milkmademama.samcart.com/products/galactagogue-guide
Low Milk Supply Course: https://milkmademama.samcart.com/products/low-milk-supply-course

Website:: www.milkmademama.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lowmilkmama
Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/overcominglowmilksupply
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriasmendoza/ 

TikTok: CLE & Low Milk Supply Mom (@victoriasmendoza) TikTok | Watch CLE & Low Milk Supply Mom's Newest TikTok Videos

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Transcript

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Welcome to raising healthy humans. I am your host Courtney, a personal trainer and health coach and the founder of formfit. A community where I help busy moms move more. As a busy and sometimes overwhelmed mama three myself, I understand that it can be difficult to find ways to live and raise healthy families. It is my goal to help provide you with the information you need to help raise healthy humans. Today I am speaking with Victoria with milk made mama and she is here to speak with us about low milk supply. She is another lactation educator and I found her information valuable. If you are no longer a breastfeeding mom, feel free to pass this on to someone who you know who is either pregnant or new mom because I find this information very valuable and think that there is so much information to be gleaned from Victoria's conversation with me in regards to low milk supply and how you can continue to support your child through breastfeeding. Well, thank you for joining me on the raising healthy humans podcast. I'd like to welcome you. And I'd like to know if you could tell me a little bit about yourself. And what made you begin the milkmaid Mama. Oh, thank you for having me. milkmaid Mama was inspired through my struggles to breastfeed my son, I have a level of supply, I never was able to get my supply up, unfortunately, no matter all my efforts, and I mean months and months of trying. And I realized I wasn't the only mom who was struggling through this, that there is this kind of facade that Oh, everyone can breastfeed and multiply is pretty rare. And if it is rare, like it's, it's usually there's a reason. And while that can be overall true, it's happening more and more to a lot of people and it's just becoming more prevalent. And we're so many people really want to be able to breastfeed, it's something that can be really hard to just process and take on and even come to terms with when you're in the middle and in the thick of it. So that was my goal was to help moms going through this experience and helping them try to figure out if they can overcome their low milk supply and if not, like how to go about, you know, just processing and, and going through the other end of it as well. Okay? Are you a lactation consultant, or I'm a Certified Lactation educator, that comes before becoming a lactation consultant as part of the training process. So I'm in the pipeline. But otherwise, I just really gotten very well versatile milk supply, on my own afford my own research. Because when I was going through this, there was really no resources available, very limited resources. And even the lactation consultants I saw, I saw a total of five kitchen consultants and my whole life process. And really, number four was the one who really, truly understood low milk supply. And she really was the first one I was able to get real help from the other ones tried and they met well, but even they weren't well versed in it. So I went and really dove into low milk supply and understanding the ins and outs of it. So even though I don't have that lactation consultant title like I, I when I was going through my my training my course that I was doing for my lactation educator when they touched on low milk supply, I'm like, Alright, let me teach the second, please. Because this is like just the surface. And so yeah, I really taken it upon myself at this point to become pretty well versed with it. Okay, you have one child, or do okay, boy, little boy, how old? He is, at the time of this recording. He's 14 months. So yeah, we're still breastfeeding, the cycle supply. So it can be done. So you still are dealing with low supply? Hmm, yeah, yeah, we had to supplement since he was born. And unfortunately, I was never able to pull away from it no matter what I did to increase my supply. I didn't know that. That is something that for myself, I had three children, I have three children. I breastfed only one of them. So and I did, I did not have that issue. So I didn't understand. I didn't know if once you have it, you always have it. So you always have to supplement. Or if it's everyone's different, everyone's different. And it really it comes down to like, every pregnancy, like you got a low supply with one but not with another. And there's things that can change and it's all based off of the root cause once you figure out that root cause of why you're having a list apply and if you're if you're in a position where you're able to address it, then it may be a totally different outcome for future babies. Okay, so what would be some of the root causes as to why you might have low milk supply? So they found it shoot like buckets. One is like primary issues, everyone's secondary and primary is stuff that's going on specifically with the mom. And then secondary is like these outside of the mom herself. So with primary, we see anatomical issues or hormone, sometimes even some trauma or damage that could have occurred due to various reasons. So some of those could be like, you know, inverted nipples are one of the probably like low grade, easier ones to kind of tackle. But that can affect a lot and affect supply, if you don't address it, but then there's, you know, hormone imbalances, that one's a little tougher. And then you know, trauma, like, if you had surgeries, like, you know, breast implants, or reductions, things like that, if you've done any surgeries, like just even just open heart surgeries, chest surgeries, I don't even know about your breasts, but they, you know, all kind of fall around where the mammary tissue and then ducks all connect, you know, that can affect supply too. So there's a lot of things that can go into that secondary, it's a little bit more expansive, it can come down to poor feeding management, it can come down to oral restrictions, and baby so like tongue ties, it can come down to even diet. And there's also just pregnancy and labor can also actually impact your, your milk supply as well, and just things that happened during that time. Okay, I wanted to ask you, as you started naming off some of the primary root causes, yeah, Bo, inverted nipples. Is there anything so what would you recommend for someone who has inverted nipples? Is there a quick solution for that? Or? Yeah, it depends on the type of like, there's different grades of how and how inverted they are. But we're talking like, there's little tools that you can use and things of that nature. But there's also, like, you know, just techniques like your own hand, like you can just, some people have what appears to be an inverted nipple. But when that's stimulated, it protrudes and so it's one of those things that you just you know, can work with. And depending on your specific, you know, anatomy, and then when actually left off, which isn't talked about a lot is like insufficient glandular tissue, which is basically when the glandular tissue doesn't grow as it's supposed to, during pregnancy to be able to produce milk. And so that happens to you. So that's one of the lesser known ones that people like don't suspect, but it happens. Okay. And then you also mentioned implants, some people may not realize that that does affect their breastfeeding. Can it can it can, or I'm sorry, milk supply? Yes. All right, it depends on how the procedure was done. Okay. And that's something you can like follow up with your surgeon if you had an implant put in. So basically, it depends on where the incisions placed, and how they look where the implant is placed, and how it might affect like, again, it just comes down to the glandular tissue, it interferes with that, which a lot of search and say it won't, or it shouldn't. But it really depends on how they do it. So make sure if you haven't gotten a procedure done, like if you're looking at that make sure like they really, really do know about how to like place it and what to do. Because I mean, even the incision like around the nipple, can those receptor sites there that your body uses to signal like, okay, baby's latching and suckling, we need to make more milk. And so those receptor sites, those nerves get damaged, it can have an impact. In regards to you also mentioned for secondary poor feeding management, can you add to more detail with that? So we're looking at when either mom has hurt herself or from other people, bad advice or practices, bad things like that are not good for supporting supply, such as, you know, middle of the night feeds like just skipping those entirely? Are we really doing one when they're in the newborn phase, really timing the feeds instead of going based off of baby's cues, right, that can suppress how much baby is spending timewise at the breast and then affect the supply because it's not getting signal properly. It's not having that that relationship that it needs to have with your baby to be able to really get your supply where it needs to be and where you know, babies demands are being met. What do you find to be the most common reason so you've given us a lot of different ones, what's the most common one that you're seeing? So I feel like primary and secondary are two very different things I'd say for each one of those. So when it comes to primary when it comes to chronic low milk supply, you can't get your milk up. When it comes to primary you are looking at hormones. And like I said, going back to that insufficient glandular tissue, your glandular tissue is not able to support enough of milk storage capacity. That also ties back to hormones because hormones are what grow your your glandular tissue while you're pregnant. It's primarily done during pregnancy. Sometimes it grows when you are in It does grow a little bit while you are going through puberty, but not a whole lot compared to pregnancy, pregnancy is the primary one. So any point any point where you have hormones like off, that's where really the hard struggles come with trying to increase supply when you're kind of going, working uphill, essentially, to try and get that supply up. When it comes to secondary, the ones I've been seeing the most tend to be feeding management. And then also oral ties, oral ties seem to be also increasingly becoming more common in terms of like how many people I see on social media, or just people I've talked to you like, yeah, maybe get a tongue tie, you know, have a lip tie, we had to have a revision done. And it's just, it's interesting, because tongue ties are one of those things that some people are even referring to as a fad, because they're becoming so common in terms of like, Oh, it's just, you know, it's a tongue tie. But they really do affect feeding. And so it's not just a fad, it's really like legitimately a problem if it's affecting, you know, the latch, or even if the mom experiencing any pain with a tongue tie. So it's it's one of those that seems to be though, a little bit more common than it used to be critical, didn't always talk about tongue ties. And so same thing with chronic low milk supply. And from the primary side, both of those, I kind of always kind of take a step back, and I go, you know, I really wonder what's at play here? Is it that we're just talking about them more? Or are they actually like increasing in numbers increasing in frequency and prevalence? And I think it's actually a little bit of both. Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking is, is it that we are becoming more aware of that, and people are speaking up? Yeah, yeah, I think it's definitely both. Because it is that we're living in a culture where things are, it's not something you should ever tamp down. It's the mindset, right? You need to speak up, speak out if you're struggling. And I mean, it's really good because it helps you get the support that they need. But it also it just kind of sheds a light on so many topics that you're just like editing. No, I think, yeah, well, and I think social media played a huge part in that because social media really wasn't around. I mean, it was early on. So it was not very popular, if that was the case. So I think social media has provided people an opportunity to see that there are other people out there like them who may be struggling with this. Yeah, yeah. And then they also goes into the hole. Okay. But are the numbers rising too. And I really do think that's the case, especially like a saying, from a primary standpoint, with hormones, we are seeing so many health conditions on the rise, everything. So it's no surprise that normal supply would be as well, because, you know, there are so many conditions like fertility, right as being a problem. Diabetes, and like insulin resistance is on the rise. And that is actually linked to a low milk supply there. That's one of the things that can contribute to a low milk supply is having issues with your insulin. And so there are all these conditions. thyroid disorders also contributed Lomo supply that are all on the rise. And so it's it's no surprise to see that this also would be trending upward. Okay. And in regards to the hormones, is there something that you mentioned that people could start doing during pregnancy to kind of help with this to get them ready for increasing their milk supply? Yeah, actually, it starts even if you can, before you even conceive, right, getting your hormones in check beforehand, is the best case scenario and making sure you're at a healthy place in your pregnancy stays healthy, you know, you follow the healthy regimen throughout your pregnancy. But while you're already pregnant, you're already in that state, you know, it's like, what can I do now, there are things that you can implement. And when it comes down to hormones, it's it comes down to lifestyle, diet, nutrition. And then there are certain if people are familiar with the words galactagogue, galactagogue, or lactogenic herbs, they are, you know, herbs or foods that can help boost or promote a healthy milk supply that are often used. So a lot of people hear that a Greek being common one, and things like that. So if you are interested in that I actually have a PDF that you can go ahead and purchase on my website where I have literally a list of all these herbs and galactic dogs and things that are used for promoting milk supply and it says which ones are safe for pregnancy? Which ones aren't safe for pregnancy? And what are their roles which ones helped sensitize your insulin, which ones help with thyroid disorders, which one helps with memory memory, like glandular tissue growth, and things like that. So I have that available for anybody who would like to have like a little cheat sheet. That's something that I have where they can kind of go and see okay, I can take this while I'm pregnant. And by all means, I have to put out there, check with your doctor. But you know, these are the ones that have been found to be safe for moms typically. Perfect. That's a great question in regards to low milk supply. Something that I've noticed in the fitness profession, a lot of women when they come to me they've already had children. And they are breastfeeding. And they may be concerned about their milk supply dropping due to exercise. Do you have any thing to say in regards to that? Yeah, so that's definitely more of like an acute milk supply problem where it's, it's one of those things where it's like a temporary thing. Typically, it's one of those where your milk supply has been established, and you're good, and you have a full supply. And now you're having something come up like exercise, or when someone gets sick made a cold, do you see a dip in supply sometimes, or even just the six month mark, on average, and for postpartum, just your hormones are still shifting. So during all of those times, you're even when your your cycle returns, there can be dips in supply. And so you just typically would do what you were doing earlier on postpartum, increasing the number of feeds right, really making sure the baby's being allowed to come in and feed freely and on demand at the breast, to try and boost up that supply just signaling to your body that you need more milk, you can throw in some pumping sessions, if you'd like and things like that. But typically, those are all hurdles that can, you know, be overcome if you aren't doing the right things for them. And so your supplies should be able to return in that case. Okay. Would you say that any of it has to do with hydration, nutrition, any of that can, especially if you've had any changes in anything. So hydration is a big one. But it's also one of those ones you don't need to overdo either write to people saying you drink enough water to breastfeed, but there's also a component where it's like, you could you know, drink a little too much water and overdo the water and hydration. So just drink to thirst. And the reason you could overdo it is because it can kind of like dilute and wash out some of the nutrients and things like that. So you know, it just kind of one of those things, you just do a to whatever your body's telling you to do. Another component of hydration, which there's not a whole lot of research behind this one yet. But it was an interesting thing that came up I heard was electrolytes being a player and milk supply. And so they are in the process of trying to conduct the study COVID Through the study off, so they're they're in the process of getting that going again. But I'm really excited to see what comes up with that because they were having these moms who were not making nearly as much milk and when they upped their electrolyte intake, they also got an increase in their supply. So which would make sense because part of hydration most people just think hydration is water. Hydration is both water and electrolytes, adequate amounts of both. So you really need to make sure you're having both and that should actually be something worth noting for anybody who's struggling as well as just maybe throw in some electrolyte mix, there's a few different ones try to get a better quality brand than you know your typical Pedialyte or Gatorade but avoid the sugars, right? And then you will be in a better place, especially if you're someone who's struggling with like a hormone imbalance in your, you know, putting too much sugar in your body that that insulin piece right that I mentioned, that can play a role. So you know, try to do cleaner options for sure. Okay, so for the insulin, nutritionally, What should these mamas be trying to ensure that they are doing this can vary person to person, it's going to have to be something that you experiment with, because everybody's body is different. But we do see some moms who respond really well with a higher fat diet. I'm not saying go keto or anything. But if you know, just make sure you have your healthy fats and you are monitoring your blood sugar, not specifically monitoring, but just mindful of it, you know. But if you have any concerns or questions, by all means, check with your doctor and ask if you can get some blood work, I have a list of bloodwork that I typically will give moms to go and do. And if they're doctors willing, that's half the battle is getting the doctor to order the labs. But you know, there are things that you can check to see if there is a underlying cause that is impacting your supply. And so if you are in a place where you are struggling with your insulin and your blood sugar levels, you really just want to keep in mind like digital lactation cookies that are not going to help you you're going to dig a deeper hole, you know, go back to the herbs go back to the galactagogue go back to the teas that you can drink, right and so it's things like that just kind of being mindful of your, your carbs and the type of carbs, right that you're consuming, making sure you're getting a balanced diet and checking with your labs to really also just support that information to make sure that you are doing the right things for for whatever your body specifically needs. Do you have that list that you've mentioned for the bloodwork? Do you have that anywhere on your website? No anybody who wants it though, they can message me I usually just like send it out to clients, but I just started like anybody who's messaging me on social media, I like just send it to them like here, here's the list like go ahead and ask for them. And by all means, if you have any pushback from your doctor message me back and I can help you like justify cuz that's the thing. We have to always justify it for insurance purposes. So if that's the case, like just be like, Hey, I know has one client, her doctor question prolactin? And I'm like, Are you serious? Out of all the hormones? Like, that's the milk making hormone? I didn't have to explain this to you. But you'd be surprised. So yeah, I have that available that we have access to it as well. Because essentially, it comes down to testing for your thyroid, insulin levels, iron, some key nutrients, like zinc and calcium and things like that. But the specifics, yeah, if anyone wants them, they can just send me a message on social media. Okay, perfect. So What recommendations would you have for helping moms if they are struggling with increasing their milk supply? Are there three or four things that you would recommend that they first look into before they may be? Move on to working with you? Are there some simple things that they could do to check? Yeah, well, so first off, there's let's also address the fact that some moms have what's called a perceived low milk supply versus real true milk supply, right. And you can get kind of concerned or worried that you're not making enough milk. And a lot of moms go through that. Because you can't actually see how much your baby's getting, right. But there's a big difference between the two in the sense of your baby's growth and development, right, like if your baby is having a diaper output, both wet and dirty. And if you are having enough weight gain, and their temperament seems to be pretty good overall, I mean, call it happens and other things happen. So temporary, is not like a sole indicator of milk supply, right. But all those little pieces just add up and everything is going well, then you're probably okay. But if any of those, especially the first two weight gain or diapers is not showing where they should be, that's more of an indicator. So if you have a real limit supply, you're going to want to really make sure that you are checking your latch, making sure you have a good solid latch. Because that's if that's poor or compromised in any way that affects milk transfer, and it doesn't signal your body to make more, you also want to make sure that there's no issues going on, like I said, those secondary issues, those are easier fixes, they're a little bit more broad in terms of what can fall into that. And actually, I have a PDF. Also on my website, it's completely free people go and download that gives a summary of various causes for supply. So just go through, check them out. And then like really just kind of look into some of them see, okay, is this one that I'm facing or not. And you know, you can kind of do a little bit of Googling, investigating work on your end, if you if you want to try and pull some things out. And so yeah, that's something I would recommend is look at secondary first, because those are really much easier to fix. In terms of, you know, baby versus the mom's health, right hormones, it's a whole different ballgame. So rolling up secondary is ideal, I think, before you go to primary, but you also want to do this all within a relatively quick window of time, because your milk supply will regulate, it will at one point, just get to a point where it's the supply and demand relationship, and it's not driven by hormones. And that typically is between six to 12 weeks, depends every person is different. So act fast, but don't, you know, be too overwhelmed with the process where I really say getting a team getting assistance and finding the right person to help you is key gold standard is an international board certified lactation consultant ibclc. But like I said, if you're dealing with real true, true, like chronic low milk supply, not all of them are well versed in low milk supply. So it's just going to make sure it's going to glow more, a little more work on your end to find the right person to help support you through this process. Because, you know, doctors don't get training on this lactation consultant, like I just did the course. I said, I could teach the section on this because it was just like, it was so minimal, because they have so many other things they have to, you know, teach you in that course. And so finding someone who's specialized in low milk supply or has a real true working and understanding of of it would be key in helping you rule out some of those things because it can be a lot for one person, one mom to roll out on her own, especially in an area where you know you're not super familiar with and then on top of that, you know, postpartum and exhausted and you have no energy to be you know, really getting into all of this. Right? In regards to supplementing. You had mentioned that you continue to supplement. I'd like to have you speak into that a little bit more because I know that people feel like it's an and or a lot of times yeah, they feel they either breastfeed or they've got to flip to supplementing so I'd love to hear how you are working through this and allowing these moms to understand that this is acceptable and this is still providing, you know a wonderful opportunity for them to connect with their child and support them. So when it comes to that combo feeding is scary because If you don't know how much breast milk they typically getting, so now it's like, well, how much formula do I give them, or how much donor milk for doing that supplement alternative? Like how how much. And so this really is going to depend on your supply and everyone's different. So the way I go about it is looking at the diapers and the weight gain, you want to make sure like I said, those are the two key parts, if you have both of those going at a good pace with whatever you're supplementing with. Keep with that, if you at any point feel like you're over supplementing, you can pull back half an ounce, an ounce, and then keep an eye on those diapers. And I'm not getting set numbers right now for that because those diapers, the numbers change depending on how old your baby is on that same PDF of summary of low milk supply causes, I have a chart on there that says how many diapers are being should be producing depending on their age. So just keeping that in mind. And keeping that as your your main objective will be the best way to kind of guide you through how much to supplement another way, which by seeing an ibclc, you could do what's called a test feed are also known as a weighted feed. And that's literally when you breastfeed your baby, before you breastfeed them, you put them on a scale get their weight, then you breastfeed them, pop them back on after each side. And they can weigh how much your baby was able to take from you based off the change in weight on the scale. And that is a great way to just get an average average of how much they're getting per feed. And then from there you based off of their milk needs, depending on their age, you can calculate what they need. So if someone wants a really, really precise number, that would be the way to go. But you can you can do it by just also monitoring, again, the diapers in the growth, I wouldn't recommend doing this like this at home scaling, I'm saying a lactation consultant because they have a highly calibrated scale, that's down to like the gram. And that's what you really need. This isn't something like I'm just gonna jump on my bathroom scale. Now you want to make sure that you know they are getting the amount that you know, that they need. So don't cut corners on that. Okay, and you said you have a chart, like based on age how much weight is that, for the diapers that right? I mean, that would be typically something that you can get birth chart from from your pediatrician. And, or you can like just look up like the CDC or the WHO growth charts right and broke depending on male female and their age, as long as they're sticking to their growth curve, or it doesn't have to be 100%, but plus rising percentile, you know, not a whole lot of variation. Okay, but the the diapers, that is what really also changes based off of their their age, you know, they it starts increasing in the very beginning. But then there's a point where it kind of plateaus. And so knowing that and knowing what to look for and what colors they should be, and all of that can be something that is a good indicator if your baby's getting enough. Okay, and you wouldn't recommend, because you hear a lot of people will pump to see, oh, gosh, no, yeah, that's not a good one. Because if you're breastfeeding, and then you come right after you have no idea how much your baby took, because you know, it's something unless you're doing a weighted feed, right, which is a different scenario. That's what I was doing with my little most fancy lactation consult, we do a weighted feed. It's exactly what she was transferring and then pump right after. And then I knew in total how much I was making, you know, but if you're doing this at home, and you're you're just pumping right after, don't be distraught, if you're having, you know, just half an ounce come out or whatever it is, because that's the leftovers, essentially, of what was in your breast after your ad has been. Okay. And I'm thinking even, like, as time goes on these, your little ones, they there's so much changing that is going on as well. Like, I remember, you know, the minute they would hit, she would hit a growth spurt. It was like she was on me all the time again. Yeah. Right. And then, you know, you're then there's times when they don't they stop eating as much and they start to eat finger foods and things like that. So I love the fact that you've got the diaper information to kind of help along. How long does that go. So after, so your supply likes that will regulate between six to 12 weeks. And so within that window, if you achieve the full supply and your baby's healthy and all things are thriving, going good. The needs don't really change from there on out. So typically, if you are at a point where your baby's about four weeks old, the diapers kind of plateau for about the first month, two months, but again, if weight gain is good, diapers are good. All of that is in check then you don't really have to worry about always monitoring the diapers just keeping it more in the back of your mind kind of thing. It's very great indicators but they're not something that you know is something that you have Don't fall or adhere to forever. It's that initial establishing the supply that you that window of time that you want to make sure that things are going good and, okay. In regards to moms who are going through surrogacy? Is there anything that they can do to if they want to breastfeed their baby and they've have someone else they are not going through the hormonal process with pregnancy? Is there anything they can do to? Get their milk? Yeah, yeah. producing them. Exactly. Inducing lactation thing. And this is going to vary person to person and this is something I you're going to need the doctor to help you with and probably lactation consultant. Not all doctors are familiar with inducing lactation. So I say start with the lactation consultant, because they will probably be well connected in your area to doctors who they've worked with helping other moms induce lactation. So that way, you're the doctors familiar with what to do, and may not be your current doctor. So what that process typically looks like is a couple of prescription medications. So what we do is we would put a mom on a birth control pill of sorts, depending on her, you know, personal history, either high and estrogen and or progesterone. So we are going to mimic the pregnancy hormones, estrogen and progesterone, they both surge really high up while you're pregnant. So you get those up really, really high. And then you go and you swap very quickly to another prescription. And that is depending where you're at. If you're in the US, it's reglan, if you're out of the country, it's DOM paradigm paradigm is not FDA approved in the US. So but both of those have side effects, we actually are making up a side effect is to increase prolactin levels. Okay. And so what you do is you mimic that switch, as soon as you deliver having the baby, the estrogen production, they're really high drop very rapidly after delivering. And so that's what the the two drugs will do. And you will have that really high prolactin levels, at the same time, you will begin pumping and trying to do what you would typically do for a, you know, a newborn is feeding eight to 12 times a day. So you would need to implement a pumping schedule. And it can take up to about a month before you start seeing any milk, but it is possible your body will start doing it. So if you really want it, it can be done. But I recommend reaching out. I mean, you can do it in a shortest probably couple months before the baby comes. But four to five months would be more ideal and giving you enough time. And then yeah, you're you can start inducing lactation that way. But it's also important to note that not every body, everyone has their own storage capacity. So your storage capacity without having even been pregnant can vary. And it may not be able to achieve a full supply. But it is possible as well, it just it's going to vary. So I just really want to put that out there that there may still be a need for supplementation. But you still may be able to produce milk yourself. And you might be able to give that to your baby. And they're still going to get lots of great benefits no matter the amount that you're producing. So something you really want work with work with a lactation consultant and your doctor to be able to get you on that that process. But that's how it's typically done. Okay, perfect. I knew nothing about that. When I received the question. I was like, oh, okay, I didn't, I didn't not know. I see adoption, people who want to, you know, adopt a baby and breastfeed, it can be done. And some of them like they do achieve full milk supplies, which is awesome. Yeah. But keeping in mind also like that hormone history, that background of your own personal health history, that's gonna play a role in this too. So you're going to need a team to help you with that. Perfect. And is there anything else that you want to make sure that you share with our listeners? Yeah, so it's one of those things where low milk supply, we're talking all the technicalities of it and what to look for and what to expect, but like, there's a whole emotional side of it, too. And I just want moms to know that. It's, it's not always an easy process, but it still can be really rewarding. If you have a low supply, I'm still breastfeeding my son despite having my list of like 14 months, and my goal is to make it to yours. You know, so it's one of those things where your relationship may not come up the way that you wanted or the way you hoped. But it's one of those things that it's It can be reframed your, your vision of what success looks like can be adjusted. And I remember when I was going through the early postpartum phase, like someone told me this, I wouldn't have loved hearing that, because I just wanted cancers. And unfortunately, the human body is so ambiguous and just so you know, you can't guarantee anything with science and medicine. And so it's possible that you can get a full supply, but it's also might be something that you may not be able to for this baby, or it may not happen at all, I really think that there are things that you can do, and between babies, and that's what I'm currently trying to do for myself as I am trying to put myself in a place where I'm primed for a better next time. So there, it doesn't mean that your breastfeeding journey has to end. And you know, it's it's one of those things that you have to, I think, figure out what works for you. And one of those things that if you really, really want to seek out the right kind of help, because it is a beast to kind of manage on your own. So and yeah, it's it's one of those where I don't want people to feel like all hope is lost. But it's, it can be overwhelming. I'm not gonna lie or sugarcoat it. So get the right help for sure. Okay, perfect. Now you offer a course or are in the process of launching a course, do you want to tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, so I'm gearing it up. And depending on when this is going to be out there, I know that it may be close to the date or right around when it will be available. And so it's all about how to go about navigating your loans to find this is really going to be a step by step course where it walks you through, okay, here's what you need to do next, here's what you need to do next, because I found it, I did not have that kind of assistance and support when I was going through it. And when I say here's what you do next isn't okay, let's roll this out. Let's roll this out. Here's who you need to go to, because that kind of immigration information was not accessible. And, you know, let's help walk you through how to roll out secondary issues. Let's rock walk you through, you know, navigating working with your doctor on this specific problem. Or if you have thyroid issue, how can you increase your odds of producing more milk, and all of those like little nitty gritty things. And they're going to be a little tiny short section like I know, that sounds like a lot. And it can be overwhelming to think like, Oh, that is a lot of information, they're going to be like bite sized lessons. Because I know you have no time early postpartum to go and take on a whole course I there going to be 1015 minute sessions that you can play the audio while you're doing a feed, because you're doing them eight to 12 times a day, you know how much information you can get in a feed like you know, so it's one of those that you can do at your own pace. But also, it's actually something you can digest and it's palatable for the moms who are you know, especially if you have more than one baby and you're like, I don't have time at any point to listen to anything, you're doing your feed, sit down, play it, and you will get all the information you need and next steps to take in order to best tackle this. Perfect, thank you so much. And where can everyone find you. So I'm on Instagram at Victoria s for Sofia Mendoza. And then I have a few other social media accounts I have, I'm really mostly on Instagram. And so you can find me milkmaid Bama, all the links to my social media on my website. And I also have a Facebook group specifically dedicated to moms who really truly have a low milk supply who already have been through it and like are currently going through it but they know they have chronic low milk supply. And they are goal is to change that either whether for that current baby or for future babies. And so it's called overcoming loxapine that can join us on Facebook completely free. And I just put out all kinds of information and content about things that you can actually apply to your life things you can do and take action on implement to try and increase your odds and whatever your underlying root causes are, you know, and that that's a key piece of figuring that out first, but that community is all about helping you figure that out with you. So we do that as well. Perfect. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. Yes, thank you for your time. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to our podcast. I hope you found the information from Victoria valuable and are able to take some of the information she has in regards to low milk supply and use it in your own life. Make sure to check out our show notes. I will have all the links for her programs, her information so that you can reach out to her if you have questions or concerns in regards to the information she provided you today. And if you are looking for a community that offers workouts, recipe ideas, posture tips, and community of moms who want to support one another through this journey of motherhood, make sure to join us over at our form fit mom community on Facebook. Each month, we do a fun five day boot camp where you are receiving information, I'm posting videos of different information that you may need. So it may be something in regards to posture, it may be something in regards to this month that's in regards to planks. So it just kind of depends on the month and what we're talking about, and questions you may have as to what will be next. But I'd love for you to join us over there is our form fit mom community so that you can get more information from us. I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will talk to you soon. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you could do me a favor. If you like what you hear. Could you leave us a review or take a screenshot and share your favorite takeaway on social media. And make sure to tag us over at raising underscore healthy humans. Now go out and enjoy more movement throughout your day.