What is the reason for milk leakage during breastfeeding? What should I do if I often leak milk during breastfeeding?

We all know that many pregnant mothers will enter the breastfeeding period after giving birth and will often feed their babies. Many mothers will experience various discomfort symptoms during breastfeeding, and milk leakage is one of the most common situations. So what is the reason for milk leakage during breastfeeding? Let's take a closer look!

Why do I leak milk during breastfeeding?

1. Lactation reflex

Milk leakage often occurs when the milk letdown reflex (milk letdown) comes. The milk letdown reflex is a process in which the muscles around the mammary gland cells contract and the milk is squeezed out instantly. Since the milk ducts near the nipples are surrounded by muscle tissues, which have different degrees of elasticity and tightness, if the muscle tissues around the milk ducts of a new mother are relatively loose, then her breasts will naturally leak milk easily.

2. Conditioned reflex

When a new mother sees other mothers breastfeeding, she will also have a conditioned reflex, causing her own breasts to leak milk. In addition, if there is too much milk in the breasts, once the lactation reflex is triggered, milk leakage may occur. For example, when feeding the baby with one breast, milk will also leak from the other breast.

3. Postpartum Qi and blood deficiency

There is a saying in Chinese medicine that goes "If you can't hold back the milk, it will leak out." Some new mothers consume a lot of physical energy during childbirth and lose too much blood during childbirth. If they do not eat properly and do not get enough rest after giving birth, it is easy to cause qi and blood deficiency, resulting in milk leakage.

Several situations of milk leakage during lactation

Excessive milk supply and milk leakage

It is normal for mothers with a lot of milk to experience milk regurgitation. Generally, no special treatment is needed, and it only lasts for a period of time. Because the baby has just been born, the milk supply is not very large, so the baby cannot eat too much milk. Every time a milk rush occurs, the milk will overflow. This is also a good thing for mothers with a lot of breast milk. After all, if the milk does not overflow, it will cause milk engorgement, which is more uncomfortable. We just need to put anti-breast pads on the nursing underwear to easily relieve the embarrassment!

Later, when the baby is about four or five months old, there will basically be no milk regurgitation, because the older the baby is, the more milk he needs, and if he eats more, there will be no milk regurgitation.

Note: If you have milk overflow during the day, you can use breast pads. If you have milk overflow at night, you can buy pajamas with breast pads, or you can also use a diaper pad. Otherwise, if the milk overflow at night is severe, the bed will be wet every time, affecting the mother's sleep. It will make the mother catch a cold on winter nights. In addition, do not eat foods that cause milk to dry up.

Low milk supply and milk leakage

The reason for low milk supply and milk regurgitation is postpartum qi deficiency, which makes it impossible to retain milk. Therefore, we need to solve the problem fundamentally. You can take more foods, soups or Chinese medicines that replenish qi and blood. Here we recommend the Chinese herbal tonic Bazhen Soup, which replenishes qi and blood.

Bazhen Soup contains ginseng, Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos, licorice, angelica, Rehmannia glutinosa, peony and Chuanxiong, which has the effect of invigorating qi and nourishing blood. Please consult your doctor for specific dosage and time of taking the medicine.

Note: Although Bazhen Soup is effective, breastfeeding mothers with weak spleen and stomach should not take it, otherwise the medicine will not be used properly and will have the opposite effect. Breastfeeding mothers with weak spleen and stomach are advised to take dietary supplements and eat more stomach-nourishing and blood-replenishing foods, such as red dates and millet porridge, yam, carrot and pork ribs soup, etc.

What to do if you leak milk during breastfeeding

1. When feeding the baby, the mother can press the other breast that the baby is not feeding with her hand, then press and massage, which can effectively prevent milk leakage.

2. Breast pads are very convenient now. Mothers can use breast pads to pad inside nursing bras. When milk leaks out, it can be absorbed by the breast pads in time, which can prevent the clothes on the chest from being wetted by milk and avoid embarrassment. But remember to choose breathable breast pads to avoid bacteria breeding due to airtightness.

3. In traditional Chinese medicine, milk leakage is caused by insufficient Qi and blood, so you can take some Chinese medicine to nourish blood and Qi to regulate it. You can also eat more astragalus and wolfberry stewed tonic or drink it directly in soup, which can also nourish Qi and blood. Once the body is conditioned, the symptoms of milk leakage will naturally be cured.