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My two favorite things in the world are breast milk and cookies, so you’d think that ‘breastfeeding cookies’ would be my dream. Sadly, this could not be further from the truth.
“But what evil can they do?”
“What’s wrong?”
“My best friend makes them and they are lovely”.
“It’s delicious and herbs have been used by women for thousands of years to increase milk supply.”
They worked great for me!
I’m ready to join my lactation consultant and lactation consultant’s team to be a no-brainer when it comes to lactation cookies. We could start a fire from all the breastfeeding cookies that were served at the wrong time to the wrong people – and they would probably smell good.
1. They can be a barrier to getting the right treatment.
If you think that you are suffering from low milk supply, or you think that your baby is not getting the milk that he needs, you need help and information as soon as possible. Even delaying the conversation by an extra day can be a problem.
I just read all the breastfeeding cake recipes on the first page of the internet search results. How many of these recipes said that if you are concerned that you may have a problem with your milk supply, please contact a lactation consultant, lactation consultant or health professional for help? There is none.
I’m looking at a website that sells custom made cakes and at the bottom of the landing page we see a ‘ask for advice’ type comment. But it’s not on the website. In all the cases I found, any comment about getting the right support was at the end of another text, usually at the bottom of a paragraph, and not highlighted.
Milk supply is controlled by milk removal. When the breasts are stimulated, we get the hormone prolactin. When milk is removed regularly and with an effective latch, the body receives signals to produce more milk. For those of us in breastfeeding support, it’s easy to forget that not everyone understands the process of milk production. The more milk that is removed, the more we will continue to produce.
As the weeks go by, our milk supply settles and we may not be able to get as full or full as we used to. We need parents to understand how the breast works. Over time, the lactation system has changed to work within the breast tissue instead of being controlled by hormones. It is very common that the change in soft breasts is misinterpreted as a sign that the ‘loss’ has disappeared.
Oxytocin, sometimes called the love hormone, regulates milk flow. It can be inhibited by cortisol and adrenaline. If women are very anxious, perhaps showing up at work and not getting the results they expected, they may also worry that the milk has ‘lost’. Sending this woman on a quest to find breastfeeding cookies, in an attempt to ‘fix’ the problem is not helpful. Instead we need to explain how our bodies work, talk about mindfulness and relaxation techniques and ways to reduce stress and increase the flow of oxytocin.
If someone is concerned about low milk supply, it may be that their baby’s latch needs to be changed. They may need to think about how much milk is being removed and for how long. There may be something that requires professional help such as a tongue-tied baby, retained pieces of the placenta or a medical problem. Adding, ‘Here, try breastfeeding cookies’ is a waste of time and prevents someone from getting the information and support that could make a big difference in their situation.
If your best friend makes them, and she’s lovely, please ask her to put up a sign NOW on her website that highlights the importance of getting the right help and she can drop the phone numbers where they are. If you sell cookies and it’s possible that I can spend more than 3 minutes on your site without seeing a message about the importance of getting breastfeeding support, you need to change your site.
Sometimes we can be confused by cookies when the quick answer is just a few seconds: mothers who were worried about their child’s weight but were told to always stop breastfeeding on one breast, a baby whose chin only needs to be close to the breast. What about the single pumping mom who was frustrated when her pumping performance slowed down and her pump just needed a replacement? All the cookies in the world can’t fix his faucet valve. All the cookies in the world won’t change your child’s location.
2. Some of the ingredients can be harmful.
Cookie is a word that sounds innocuous, but the friendly word hides what can happen. Most of them contain a plant called fenugreek. Fenugreek has been used around the world to support breastfeeding for a long time but just because something is a plant and ‘natural,’ doesn’t mean it’s safe for everyone to eat. The evidence that fenugreek helps milk supply is limited. There are some studies that show it can, but we also know that some people shouldn’t drink it.
Postpartum thyroiditis affects about 5-10% of new mothers. This is an incredibly high number and probably the largest number of those facing financial difficulties. It can start with hyperthyroidism (which can mean strong milk) and move to hypothyroidism (where milk can be disturbed). Lisa Marasco and Diana West, in their book ‘Making more milk: A breastfeeding guide to increasing milk supply’, talk about the relationship between fenugreek consumption and reduced milk production. Fenugreek is also not recommended if a parent has diabetes, hypoglycemia, asthma, peanut or chickpea allergy or bleeding disorders. We also have events that cause gastrointestinal diseases in both mother and child.
I’ve talked to women who took weeks or months to find out they had a thyroid problem, and during most of the time the milk supply was a concern. If she had been buying and eating breastfeeding cookies the whole time (and someone else had), it would have made things worse. Imagine women with undiagnosed thyroid disease feeling like they ‘didn’t find the right solution’.
When we’re a new parent, we take a huge risk and if a bunch of people are telling you lactation cookies are your go-to, why not believe them? Guess how many recipes I looked at mentioned that some of the ingredients may not be safe for everyone?
Brewer’s yeast is another commonly used ingredient. It has a very bitter taste so it is used sparingly. That’s probably not a bad thing when you consider that it interacts with over 200 medications. It interacts with other medications used to treat depression and as you might imagine it can affect antifungal medications.
3. Even if they are safe to use, what messages are recommended?
Let’s say your thyroid is healthy and you don’t have a problem controlling breastfeeding or breastfeeding and you just love breastfeeding cookies. I would still argue that you are getting the message that your body is not good enough. One of the main arguments against cookies is that they are placebos and often have positive results because we believe they work. The feeling of low milk supply is common among new parents and is usually nothing to worry about. It’s not unusual for babies to fuss sometimes, the breasts begin to soften, to stop leaking, to let the water move, to make feedings shorter.
I really want a placebo, which can make parents more comfortable, and a level of accurate information about how the breasts change and how the children are, their size and what is better during breastfeeding. I don’t want anyone to spend £10 on a box to be quiet or feel like they’re doing something. When we tell new parents that breastfeeding means eating and making lactation cookies, we tell them that bodies don’t work on their own. We are saying that low milk is sustainable and we need help to become mammals. We already live in a society where breastfeeding is often not trusted. I don’t feel that the answer to this lack of trust is that cookies will fix us. Do we really need a placebo that corrects the feeling of low milk supply?
4. They are often expensive.
Here is one company selling 500g lactation cookies for around £10. Here are some for £14. Here’s a monthly subscription for around £50. Even if you make your own, some of the ingredients can add up. Oats are a staple in many recipes. They are not expensive. Is the box really worth £14? We know that new parents often think that paying more means the product will be better. We are a vulnerable group. Flapjacks made with oats and flaxseed consume a fraction of the cost of commercial products. You can get a packet of oaty biscuits from the supermarket for £1.
Let’s be very careful about breastfeeding cakes. For the minority who have a real problem with supply, there may be better galactagogues (substances that increase milk production) that they should prescribe. Even if you have carefully researched fenugreek and other herbs, and you feel that it is worth trying, there are other options that you can take that are cheaper and easier to control and that can be very effective.
Jil, a doula from Sussex said that men struggling with erectile dysfunction will not benefit from “erection cookies”. They can expect informational assistance.
If you feel that breastfeeding cookies will help you, your role as a supporter does not mean lactation cookies before you say anything else. You could be delaying someone from getting the help they need and wasting their time and money. If you believe that lactation cookies have affected you, you should do your best to test it yourself before calling it quits.
And finally, cookies are good. Eat all the cookies you want, because they are cookies. Find something that tastes good, makes you happy and brings good things into your life. This is not an anti-cookie message, this is an anti-cookie ‘prevents breastfeeding’ message.