How Does Lactation Work?
When I first had my baby I couldn’t help but wonder how in the heck does this happen? how is it possible that my boobs make actual milk… and that’s all my baby needs? how does it know to make milk? The process of lactation is usually broken down into 3 complex stages that I will summarize for you below. While it would take forever for me to answer all of the questions above, hopefully as you read through my simplified stages of lactation the process will begin to make a little more sense to you.
Stage 1
Throughout all 3 trimesters of pregnancy, there is breast growth and development that prepares the breasts for lactation
Milk production begins around 16 weeks of gestation
The first milk, or colostrum, is ready for your baby as soon as it is born
Stage 2
On average between 3 and 5 days postpartum, there is an increase in milk production. This is when some say your milk "comes in.”
Your body knows to continue making milk through hormones and frequent stimulation at the breast (or frequent nursing sessions)
This is why skin to skin and nursing on demand is so important.
Skin to skin encourages hormone production
Stimulation at the breast encourages hormone production
These hormones tell your body to continue making milk
Stage 3
Over time your body begins to rely more on supply and demand and less on hormones and stimulation
What your baby demands is what you supply
The milk that is removed from the breasts is replaced
