When Dr Ngendo Mburu gives birth to her first daughter in 2022, her biggest wish is to breastfeed her baby for more than a year. However, in five months, the mother’s milk dries up.
“I went back to work four months after giving birth, and I was in a very stressful and toxic environment. I was under psychological stress that caused my milk production to drop. I couldn’t keep up with my pumping schedule. I also struggled to get a good babysitter, and at that time , my husband is working out of town, so everything is too much for me.
In the end, they turned to baby formula.
As a mother for the second time, Dr Ngendo was determined to breastfeed her son for as long as possible. But as things would go, in February of this year, when the baby was seven months old, her milk production began to decrease.
Dr. Ngendo Mburu is a medical officer who has successfully performed lactation.
Photo credit: pond
“Come June, I am almost at zero. I lost my grandfather and aunt earlier this year, so the stress caused my milk production to decrease. I realized that I need to actively relactate (the process of a mother restarting lactation after stopping for a period of time, such as a week or month).
My goal is to breastfeed my baby for a year. As a paramedic, I knew it was possible to relactate, but I didn’t think it could happen to me. You know, when you’re a doctor it’s different than when you’re a patient,” said the mother of two.
With the help and encouragement of the paediatrician, Dr Ngendo started relactation in June.
“Lactation is usually about the mind. You have to be very positive. I have to pump often, at least every three hours. I have to take a balanced diet and some lactation supplements. I also got a prescription for lactation medicine to increase milk production,” he said.
Within five days, he began to see significant improvement. “When I started, I only produced 20 milliliters of milk a day. Then it gradually increased to about 170 ml a day at the end of four days. By the end of the week, I had 300 ml. I recently stopped pumping because I have only one baby.”
Dr. Ngendo has taken to Instagram to educate women on the importance of breastfeeding, how to breastfeed, and all about newborn baby nutrition. They also advocate for women’s reproductive health.
Relation knows no age limit. Esther Kimani, a lactation consultant, has helped many of her clients with lactation, including a 61-year-old grandmother.
“I have worked with a grandmother who chose to breastfeed her granddaughter after her mother died during childbirth. The grandmother’s daughter was infected with Covid-19 and developed pneumonia. She was able to deliver the baby, but her health deteriorated, and she died. The grandmother brought the baby went home but couldn’t buy formula. When I found him, he was looking for someone who could donate the baby formula. At night, when the baby was crying, he would give the breast to soothe the baby. I suggest to try relactation. We work with a doctor who prescribes fennel seeds and dill seeds. I will tell him to give a little formula to the breast week, he started to hear the sound of swallowing from the baby, and at the end of the month, the baby was full of breast milk and did not have to take baby formula. The grandfather then breastfed the baby for only six months,” said Kimani.
A mother who breastfeeds her newborn baby.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Surrogate baby
He explained that relaxation is possible because the human body has muscle memory and knows what to do. It can even be used in women who have used surrogates to carry babies. A surrogate will give birth and hand the baby over to the original mother who can be given lactation medicine and then she will breastfeed.
“In addition to medicine and herbs, we advise our clients to express milk often. You have to pump by hand expression or use a pump for 30 or 40 minutes. Then, you put the baby on the milk. At first, there is no milk, so you can give the baby formula, and then if he’s not hungry, you can put him in the milk.
Relaxation requires a combination of positive thinking, regular expression and putting the baby to the breast, and medication.
Ms Kimani said it can also induce lactation in women who have never breastfed before.
“It’s about tricking your brain into thinking you’re pregnant. The way it works is that you’re put on birth control for about four months, and then you go off it pretty quickly. When you’re on birth control, you have to express milk at least four times a day. Then we give you some medicine and herbs. In the fifth month, you will start expressing eight times a day so that when the baby arrives, you will express every three hours,” he said.
Ms Kimani said lactation breastfeeding was particularly favored by women who had a surrogate pregnancy and wanted to breastfeed their baby at birth or women who wanted to adopt a baby.
