I have a friend who recently had a beautiful baby that was born with health problems that resulted in a prolonged stay at the hospital. Because of this she hasn't been able to nurse, but has been pumping. As many of us know when you pump verses actually nursing you don't get quite the milk flow that a suckling baby can produce. She reached out to me for some herbs that could help increase her milk flow and this is what I came up with. Women that desire to nurse can come into other problems beyond my friend's experience with milk flow issues, this formula can help with anyone who feels they need to increase or enrich their milk production.
The Recipe
These herbs can be blended together and made into a tea, tincture or powdered for capsules. I made my friend capsules and just as a warning the red raspberry leaf doesn't really powder, it just fluffs up like cotton. I powdered the others herbs and did my best with the raspberry leaf and then used a fork to kind of mash and stir to combine. If I were making this for myself I would just make a tea. Dosage will be different for each person, I started out with 2 capsules or a cup of tea with each meal, you can increase or decrease as you see how your body responds. These are all nutritive herbs so no worries about 'overdosing'.
Why These Herbs
All of these herbs are galactagogue, which means they promote and enrich the production of milk in nursing mothers. Nettle and Dandelion are highly nutritive and so they support and feed all other systems in the body like a tonic. This also means that baby will be getting those nutrients via mother's milk. Red Raspberry leaf is a female and uterine tonic, it feeds many systems in the body and one of my favorite herbs to put in almost every remedy.
Where to get these herbs
What you cannot grow or forage for you can purchase from a high quality herb store, I prefer Mountain Rose Herbs. If you want to go for a premixed formula, Bulk Herb Store carries a Mama's Milk Tea already to go.
