Menstruation is associated with many issues, such as fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding and ultimately menopause. Menstruation is considered to be an important initial period of a life on which many issues depend in future. While we can enjoy the news of the pregnancy, then while we keep quiet about the issues of the period?
We should be more careful about the matter of menstruation as it affects health in many ways even after your pregnancy. We all know that missing period is one of the first sign of pregnancy. So, when you first conceive, hormonal functions get changed and keep your period away. It is a normal consequence of which we are aware. But do you know that after giving birth to a child, when you get period very late is nothing but the consequence of your breastfeeding! So, when you start breastfeeding, your period may stay away for weeks, months, or longer. It returns late during breastfeeding with a minor difference and its vice-versa can happen! The period also affects a new mother by reducing her breastmilk production. So, undoubtedly, Periods and Breastfeeding affect each other.
But, you should not afraid of breastfeeding during this times as there remains no problem with the baby and its food. It is safe. This period does nothing harm with your breastfeeding. Breast milk is still healthy and full of nutritious for your baby. So, you do not need to wean your baby during your period. It causes cramp and problem with your mood but, not with your baby-food.
After a long period of pregnancy when you face the nuisance of having your first menstruation, one more thing you may confront this time is the struggle for the breast milk in supply that can be dropped at this time. It becomes really stressful when your period diminishes your milk supply. Hormonal fluctuations can be responsible for such drop in milk supply. Durations may have differed in such situation. It may stay for few days for some women. For others, it may be a full week or more than that. So, it becomes important to try to get the supply up in the meantime.
According to a research, the composition of breast milk gets changed during the mid-cycle or ovulation. Like hormones, minerals are also changing time to time in the body. Sodium and chloride levels grow up in the milk while lactose and potassium fall down. So, during menstruation, your breast milk becomes saltier and less sweet. Besides this, estrogen and progesterone, the key hormones of the menstrual cycle, can affect the breasts and breast milk by changing their levels during the first period or ovulation after your pregnancy.
When estrogen and progesterone level grow up, it make you feel that your breasts are full and tender. Higher etrogen levels hinder the progress of production in lactose in your body. Not only this, further reserach shows that even calcium also falls down after the ovulation. The lower levels of calcium contributes to drop in milk supply too. But, you should not be worried about all these because if you follow some strategies, you will ovecome the problems you face.
1. Take a Calcium or Magnesium Supplement
Whether you are pregnant or not does not matter but, the requirement of calcium is very important for you body during your breastfeeding. The drop in milk supply is associated with your period which can negatively influence the calcium levels in the blood which occurs in the middle of your menstrual cycle which is known as ovulation. To combat this shortage in milk as well as in calcium, you should take a calcium or magnesium supplement. You should start taking this the supplement when you ovulate until the third day of your period.
It happens generally about two weeks before you’re due for your period. According to the Institute of Medicine, a daily dose should be 1000(mg) calcium or 500(mg) magnesium if you are breastfeeding and you are over 18. And if you are younger than 18, you should take 1300 milligrams per day. You should buy the some combination along which you take this calcium or magnesium supplement, as that much calcium should never be taken alone. You can consume dairy products daily in your intake. The presence of magnesium must improve the absorption of calcium. For proper absorption in the calcium supplement, we need the ideal ration that is 2:1 between calcium and magnesium.
2. Eat Oatmeal
Because of abundance nutrients, oatmeal becomes superfood food that helps a woman in milk supply. The rich iron in oatmeal is helpful for promoting milk and its supply for breastfeeding women. This food can low your stress levels too. High stress can be a cause for the low production of the lactose in the body that can hinder the milk supply. This is an easy change in your diet and try to compensate for less milk . Eat this oatmeal when you have your period as it affects in the production of breastmilk. If you don’t like oatmeal, make it a sweet dish mixing with milk, or chocolate or any other sweet cookies or you can make it a little spicy.
3. Fenugreek Seed
According to a research, this seed can be helpful for the milk production within one week after period. You can put the seeds in you vegetables, meat dishes if you want. you can blend it with any drink or tea. It can help in keep hydrating your body which is necessary because breastfeeding can be very dehydrating for your health and milk production. So, take 8 to 10 ounce glasses of water or other fruitful fliuds a day in which you can mix the dust of fenugreek seeds.
4. Drink Nursing Teas
Nursing teas defines a special teas for new mothers who are specially suffering from less breastmlik. These kinds of teas contain galactagogues such as fenugreek, blessed thistle, and alfafa that increases milk supply in some women. Generally, to repair the levels of lactose in the blood during periods, you need to drink tea every day. If you become habituated with such healthy drinks, your period will be no more a cause of hinderance for the breast milk production. Everything will be going good by hand in hand.
5. Brewers Yeast
It is full of vitamin B, protein, iron and minerals. It can be helpful in breastmilk production as it ables to fulfill the shortage of those iron, minrals which fall down during the period by dint of estrogen amd progesteron. It has a cheesy flavor. You can easily include it in your diet as it is helpful in enhanching the taste of other foods and drinks. So, You can replace cheese with this yeast.
6. Pumping Session
You can try the pumping session along with above mentione diet. The response of the body will decide how much this pumping is effective for you. If pumping becomes able to give you back the normal supply of milk in your body within a few days, then you can add another extra session of pumping . At best, it will probably provide you an extra ounce or two at first. During period and brestfeeding, your breasts become more soft and tender but such pumping does not give any negative effect. If you get a positive result from this, you should continue with this.
So, there lies nothing magical in period or production in breastmilk but the roles of the hormone, minreals, iron, protein, vitramin make a such exquisite arrangement in your body . A little change in your diet can bring back the normal flow and production in your bresatmilk during your period.
