IVF and the Impact on Breastfeeding

Did you know the way you become pregnant can impact your overall breastfeeding success? An Australian study suggests mothers who become pregnant through IVF (in-vitro fertilization) may experience more challenges when trying to nurse their babies. What are some of the challenges mothers face when breastfeeding after IVF? And what can determined moms do to improve their overall experience?

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Featured Segments

  • Boob “Oops”!

    We try to be the best parents we can be, but mistakes happen despite our best intentions. What funny breastfeeding “oops” have you made recently (that you’re willing to admit)? Send us a voicemail through our website!

  • Mama Hacks

    Mamas have clever ways to overcome everyday problems with a little bit of ingenuity. In this segment, our listeners share their favorite breastfeeding and pumping “hacks” that help simplify their lives and make both mama and baby happy!

Episode Transcript

The Boob Group
IVF and the Impact on Breastfeeding

Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Many times we hear about the amazing circumstances women and their partner have to go through to have a child. When a woman chooses to use in-vitro fertilization otherwise known as IVF, it is a life-changing decision. So after you’ve gone through the process of IVF, what happens next? How do you handle any challenges like breastfeeding? Today we are discussing how IVF impacts breastfeeding and what mamas can do to improve their experience. We are The Boob Group!

[Intro/Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Welcome to The Boob Group, everyone! We're here to support all moms wanting to provide breast milk to their babies and to respect the choices of moms who choose to feed their babies another ways. I'm Sunny Gault and I'm actually going to take a little bit of a break in this episode. I have some exciting news for you guys! So Priya! Many of you guys may know Priya. She’s been on our show quite a bit. She’s the founder of Moms Pump here which is a great app that helps moms find great locations to breastfeed and pump for their babies. But she is a friend of The Boob Group. She’s been on the show quite a bit. And I am handing over the hosting rains to Priya. This is Priya’s first official… I think you co-hosted before, Priya?

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Yes!

SUNNY GAULT: I think we had you kind of moderate an episode in the past. I think about celebrities and breastfeeding, I think that was our topic a while back. And we just love what you bring to the show! And I am so excited! Just for everyone out there-I am still involved in the show, I am still going to be producing the show and all that good stuff, but we are really excited to welcome Priya. So Priya, I am going to turn the rains over to you and you can finish the announcements and continue on with our conversation today.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Awesome! Well, thank you so much, Sunny! I am so excited to be a part of this amazing podcast The Boob Group! It made such an impact in women’s lives and I am so glad I can be a part of its future history! So, as Sunny said I am your new host, Priya Nembhard! And I am also the co-founder of Moms Pump Here, the nurse locator app that helps women find places to breastfeed and breast-pump around the World. And if you haven’t yet, we encourage you to download the New Mommy Media Network app which gives you easy access to all our episodes. You can also subscribe to our podcast through iTunes so our latest episodes download to your mobile device automatically. And if you are on iTunes, please leave us a review, so other moms can learn about us. Let’s meet the mamas joining our conversation today. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family. Ginny, why don’t we start with you?

GINNY ELIOT: Hi, I am Ginny Eliot! I am speaking to you from Queensland in Australia. I have three daughters, all of whom were conceived through IVF. They are not babies any more. They are now aged 18, 14 and almost 11, but yes, I breastfed all of them, but I went through a lot of use of IVF before I had the first.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: That’s awesome! Thank you for being on, Ginny! And Alicia?

ALICIA: Hi, I am Alicia! I am from Cleveland, Tennessee. I have three children. My newest child, we got pregnant with him through IVF. And my other two children I got pregnant with them naturally and I was unsuccessful at breastfeeding I think basically of a lack of knowledge and support system. But I got remarried and my husband adopted my other two children. And we wanted to have a child together as well. So after having my tubes tight-up with my second, our best option was to go through IVF. And we got pregnant with him last year. We had him a week before Christmas. And now I’ve been breastfeeding 8months strong. And he is my only breastfed baby and baby that I had through IVF.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Wow! Congratulations!

ALICIA: Thank you!

PRIYA NEMBHARD: So I am also a mom of three. In addition to being entrepreneur, I am a mom of three. And my children are all now older. My oldest is 14, and my daughter is 12, and my youngest son Liam is 8 years old and he is actually the only one I’ve breastfed the longest. All three of them had breastfeeding, and supplements, and breast-pumping, and all that great stuff, but Liam I breastfed for three years cause I just couldn’t let go. And one day it was just time to make it happen. So I have a great relationship, a great bond with all three of them, but breastfeeding was very important to our relationships as babies.

[Theme Music]

PRIYA NEMBHARD: So now it is time for The Boob Oops. And The Boob Oops is a great segment where we always have these really funny and corky stories from our mamas that are submitted on social media. And this one comes from Gwen.

So it was three days since the arrival of my son. We had been nursing well and had a good latch, suck…well, etc. Then came the milk! Why didn’t I know what to do? Why won’t he latch on? Will I ever be able to feed my baby again? These and many other deranged thoughts raddled through my brain at 4a.m. as I phase the floor with a screaming, starving baby and two very swollen breast. Then a midwife came, saw me bowling in outer desperation and took my son while I stood under the shower. She showed me how to express just enough so my son can latch on and settled us both in bed, side by side and instructed me how to feed him laying down. It is funny how something so simple nearly broke my resolve. The hormones didn’t mix well with sleeping deprivation, do they?

SUNNY GAULT: You know what I love about those boob ops? Is that… She is right! Sometimes it is the smallest little thing that can kind of break us. And we are already sleep-deprived, and we are kind of going crazy. And especially if it is your firstborn, you don’t know exactly what you are doing. And I just love the fact that the solution was so simple and I am so glad that a midwife was there for her, just to say mama, take a break, go in the shower, just relax for a second, you know, hand-express a little bit, you know what I mean. Because sometimes we just so frustrated, we just need someone to just be like you know, it is going to be ok, there is a really simple solution here, and I am going to walk you through it. And it sounds like it worked for Gwen. And so that’s awesome!

PRIYA NEMBHARD: And it sounds like she was in a hospital.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah, yeah, definitely! I don’t think the midwife is hanging around at her house, right? I don’t know, maybe she is, maybe she hired her. I don’t know, maybe it was a home birth. Yeah, so at least she had the help she needed.

[Theme Music]

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Today we are talking about IVF and the impact on breastfeeding. Our expert is Ginny Eliot and she is coming straight to us from Australia!

SUNNY GAULT: Down under!

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Down under! And she is an amazing volunteer and counsel with The Australian Breastfeeding Association. Ginny, I am so glad you are on!

GINNY ELIOT: Hi!

PRIYA NEMBHARD: And we have such a wide-rodeo mamas on today. Ginny is from Australia, Sunny is in San Diego, I am in New Your, and Alicia is in Tennessee.

SUNNY GAULT: We are all over the place! All over the map! I love it!

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Ok, so I am using the term IVF, but for listeners who do not know what it stands for, IVF is in-vitro fertilization. It is a process of fertilization by manually combining an egg and sperm in laboratory dish, and then transferring the embryo to the uterus. So Ginny, based on your experience, how has it been working with IVF moms?

GINNY ELIOT: I think there are a few issues that can be specific to IVF moms or moms who’ve needed help with fertility. In some cases the actual reason for needing the IVF treatment may have an impact on whether they are going to produce enough milk. For example women who suffer with PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome, in some cases have a delay on the state of lactation so they may struggle to make enough milk in the first week or so after giving birth. But in a lot of cases if they are given a lot of support can eventually produce enough milk. On the other hand some moms, a lot of, I have spoken to a lot of moms with a polycystic ovary syndrome who have the opposite problem, who have a huge over-supply of milk in the first week and struggle for that reason. So sometimes the whole reason for the fertility problem the lead to needing IVF can have an impact on the production of milk.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Wow! Alicia, did this happen to you?

ALICIA: Actually from the beginning I had an over-supply and I regularly used to block-feeding method when nursing, and so instead of giving him both breasts I would just give him one at a time. And I have a heavy letdown too. And so that’s the… It was a struggle when he was little, but not so much now. I have not had any supply issues other than an over-supply issue up until recently that I went and saw a lactation consultant on Monday actually, and she gave me some supplements to take, and give me some tips and information to help get my supply back up. But my supply just like bottomed down out of nowhere. But we are thinking it is a combination of I had shingles last month. And then my son is teething and so he is not latching as well and he is not pulling the milk as well. And so we are thinking it is the combination of that caused my supply to bottom down like that. But it is getting back up.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: That’s great!

ALICIA: Yeah, and I have that… The last two days have been a lot better. I can actually feel my letdown back again and I am leaking again, so I know, you know, hey, things are getting back to normal. When he is nursing he is not frustrated like he was before and everything. So we are pretty sure we are getting back on track where we need to be. But as far as the IVF I don’t know if that has any impact on my supply or not. You know, my reasons for IVF was because I had my tubes tied and then there were some issues on my husband’s side. So I don’t have any medical conditions or anything, I believe, that could have contributed to my milk supply. However I have had mastitis for times in eight months.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Wow! Thant is rough!

ALICIA: Yeah! But I am sticking it out, so…

GINNY ELIOT: In some cases sometimes the reason for woman needing to go to IVF may be because of hormonal imbalances. So in Alicia’s case there was a physical reason that she had, so I wouldn’t have expected that there would be any particular impact. But in some cases, a lot of cases, there’s a lot of reasons where people need to use IVF or other fertility treatments. And most of those won’t have any direct impact on how well we are going to breastfeed. What I am saying is in some cases they may be depending on the reason for the fertility problem, it may have an impact on the milk supply in either direction. And so women who may have reduced fertility gitohigxh product and levels when they are not pregnant, they may well find a huge over-supply. And that can be a struggle in itself. And things like mastitis can often be a side effect of having a huge over-supply.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Wow, that’s really interesting! So what do you think are the common assumptions about IVF? You know, when you are preparing for the baby’s birth and hopefully breastfeeding? What do you think the common assumptions are?

GINNY ELIOT: Well, I think if some women, if they had to go through a lot of IVF treatments before they get a successful pregnancy, if they’ve had miscarriages, if they have to try a whole range of different, you know, treatment protocols before they get a successful pregnancy, they can lose confidence in their own body. And lose confidence means they figure well, if my body can’t get pregnant without a whole lot of medical help. Very often there are interventions around the birth. There is certainly a high rate of Caesarean sections and so on for women who have had fertility treatment. And successful breastfeeding to some…to lot extend requires that you can trust your body to be making enough milk for your baby. Because when you are breastfeeding you can’t see how much is going into the baby. And you know, it is a matter of being able to trust that, you know, that your body can provide enough food for your baby if you feed your baby often enough, trust that your baby knows, you know, when and how often it needs to feed and for how long. And that trust can be broken in that whole process of struggling to get pregnant. And that, just that lack of trust in your own body can have an impact on how successful you may be in breastfeeding if you don’t have, you know, good support to keep going and good information.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Wow! So do you think that that lack in confidence is directly related to stress? So you are lacking confidence, you are feeling stressed, I can’t do this. So?

GINNY ELIOT: Possibly, but I think the first sign if there’s difficulties, if it is not going as well as you thought it was going to do, it can be very easy to say well, my body couldn’t make a baby, my body couldn’t give birth to a baby, why would I assume that my body can make enough milk for my baby and be very quick to go to kind of medicalised kind of solutions. If you’ve needed medical professionals to help you get pregnant, to maintain a pregnancy, to give birth, than you are more likely to go to medical people assuming there is a medical problem. And unfortunately a lot of medical professionals, doctors, GPs, even observtritions, aren’t really very knowledgeable about normal lactation and how to cope with you know, what is a normal baby feeding.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Yeah, and there is where lactation consultants come in.

GINNY ELIOT: Absolutely! That’s right! And a lot knowing who to ask for that help whether is your volunteer counselor in Australia with the Australian Breastfeeding Association, or through La Leche League, or to a lactation consultant. So that you get the right information about what is normal baby behavior and normal prices of lactation.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: So it seems like a lot of it is education. Alicia, you kind of touched upon this, you know, that you didn’t have enough information for the first two babies, but for the last baby you had a lot of information in regards to breastfeeding and all the different things that you can do. Was that because you had a lactation consultant for the last child or…? Did you have a lactation consultant for the first two?

ALICIA: I think it is the times. My oldest is 10, my middle child is 7years old and you know, now I have a smartphone, right there in my finger tips where I am parts of groups, Milky Mamas and other groups where you know, if you need help, they have also lactations consultants on there who, you know, give you lots of solid advice and it is very… It is a support group basically. And plus my lactation lady! I mean, she touched that doctors don’t, you know, usually have much information on breastfeeding. And it is true! I mean, they don’t at all! I mean, my doctor didn’t even ask me if I was going to breastfeed or not.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Oh, really?

ALICIA: Yeah! And I had a Caesarean with three of my children. And so there was that, you know, I don’t know if I am going to be able to do this or not, but I was determined to make it happen. And luckily we have a great lactation consultant. And told me I can call and text her any time I have issues. And she is right there, and she has helped me every step of the way. So, I guess just having a big support group.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Yeah, absolutely! And that’s so important! So what happens when things don’t go quite as planned for IVF moms, we’ve talked about this a little bit, and breastfeeding obstacles emerge? What steps can IVF moms take to be successful at breastfeeding? We will be right back!

[Theme Music]

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Welcome back! Today we are talking about IVFs and impact on breastfeeding. Our expert is Ginny Eliot from The Australian Breastfeeding Association. Thank you, Ginny, so much for being on! Now, we’ve talked a little bit already about, you know, obstacles that have occurred for moms that have used IFV and they want to breastfeed, and their body confidence going into breastfeeding. So what are some tips that IVF moms can use to be successful at breastfeeding?

GINNY ELIOT: Well, my tips apply to really any moms. I think it is very easy when you are pregnant to get very focused on, you know, what stage is my baby growing at, how big is my baby, what, you know, how big their fingers are, and focus on the fact of being pregnant, and forget to look beyond to when you’ve got a baby and educated yourself to what is going to be normal baby behavior. Towards the end of pregnancy most moms get very focused on what’s going to happen around the birth, is the birth going to go well, is it going to hurt too much, how am I going to cope, what am I going to do. And it is important that, you know, the birth, even if it is a bad one, it may be 24hours, or 36hours, there’s a whole lot years beyond that when you’ve got a baby to look after. And to remember to do some research not just about the pregnancy and about the birth, but about what is normal baby behavior so that when you go home with your baby you don’t get freaked out, because you didn’t really know what to expect. And whether you had IVF or not, I think that’s a hugely important tip to take, to actually look at.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Absolutely!

GINNY ELIOT: How does feeding work? How often is normal for a baby to feed? As a breastfeeding councilor I am always getting calls or emails from moms who, you know, have what is an absolutely normal pattern if feeding for a small baby, but they seem to think that their baby is feeding often or isn’t getting enough milk because they want to feed in the afternoon, they want to feed and hour or less after the last feed. But that can be quite normal behavior, because babies are small, they have small stomach capacity, and then we want them to grow fast, they need to be feed often.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Yes, Every two hours, right? I remember that!

GINNY ELIOT: And sometimes more often! Cluster feeding, cluster feeding for four or five hours in the afternoon and evening is very normal, you know. Baby feeds for 20minutes, and then 30minutes it wants to start over, and that can be a very normal pattern. But moms get freaked out.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Yeah, absolutely! Alicia, did that happen to you? Did you find the feeding pattern was crazy?

ALICIA: Oh, yes! You know, I had people tell me you need to get him on a schedule, you need to get him on a schedule. But really, what I’ve done is just what works best for my baby and our needs. And I feed on demand, I always have, from the beginning. And yes, there are days where he cluster-feeds and wants to be on the breast all day long. He loves his ninnies, so…

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Is it how he call them? Is that how you refer to them? The ninnies?

ALICIA: The ninnies, yeah!

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Like the minions!

ALICIA: Yeah! And so yeah, cluster-feeding is a struggle. And it is really hard, you know, especially I am sure for new moms. You know this is my third child. You know, you just got to remember-those dishes, you know, they can be washed later. They are only a baby for so long, the go through leeps where they need that constant cluster-feeding. And you can just stick through it. It is really not that bad. And once they are done with that, you are going to miss those times. My son is eight months old now, and he doesn’t ever have a day when he wants to cluster-feed. He is too busy trying to crow, play with his toys and stuff. And now I miss those days when I just laid on the couch and watched Netflix all day long, and all I did was nurse my baby.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Netflix and breastfeed-that sounds like a meme!

ALICIA: Yeah!

PRIYA NEMBHARD: So what type of support system did you tap into? Ginny too? Like what type of support system should moms being taping into? We talked about lactation consultants, but what about the family? How do you address these issues with your family to get the support you need?

GINNY ELIOT: The most important support are other moms who are breastfeeding or have breastfed. And you know, in Australia that would be signing, joining The Australian Breastfeeding Association, use their telephone help line, look at their website like for information, come along to our meetings and meet with other moms. If you are surrounded with other moms who are successfully breastfeeding, it is easier to believe that your body can do it. If you are surrounded by other people who have had struggles and have gone to bottle-feeding and formula, then it can be very easy to feel like you are weird if you are persevering with breastfeeding.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Absolutely!

GINNY ELIOT: And if your mom and your mother in law, or the lady next door have not breastfed, they are going to be suggesting things that work for them, and that might not be the right information for you. So it is important to be a disearning about who’s advice you accept, who’s advice you follow. Certainly accept, smile and nod, and say thanks for your input, but making sure that you are getting reliable information. So I mean, I know in Australia the best source of information is going to be The Australian Breastfeeding Association. The La Leche League in other countries provides. Websites like Kelly Mom that are run by lactation consultants are ideal sources of reliable information.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: And The Boob Group!

GINNY ELIOT: Absolutely!

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Because we have people like you on! So yeah, those are very, very important points that you are making, you know. And then just think about the internet. Alicia talked about using her smartphone now whenever she needs to find information. You know, that’s what moms do now. They just pick up their phone and look on their feed on their social media, or they might go to Google or something and try to look something up, but you still have to be very disearning about the information you are getting.

GINNY ELIOT: There’s a lots of information, but not all of it is reliable and based on good science.

ALICIA: Well, I found we had a local Facebook group and it is Milky Mamas, and it is for breastfeeding mamas, and it is backed by lactation consultants, IBLCs, and all the information you get out there, a lot of it is stuff that they found on Kelly Mom and it is a great support group. Because I, my family was… My husband is very supportive, and my children are supportive. But my family, there are not big breastfeeders. And so my main support group is then friends that I know from, you know, growing up that breastfeed, or like this group where, you know, there’s woman on there, there is thousands of women on there and we all just kind of support each other, or if someone is having a bad day, we help lift them up and tell them you know, hey, you are doing a good job, your body knows what it needs to do, just trust enough that, you know.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: That’s the body confidence again, trusting your body!

ALICIA: Yeah, you really do. Because I mean, there’s days when you doubt and think oh, is this going ok? Maybe I am not making enough? And you know, a lot of times it is not that you are not making enough, your body is regulating itself and you are just not as engorged as you used to be in yourself as you used to be. Well, in my case anyways. But support is a big issue. And other than lactation consultants, I would say, you know, work on social media social groups, if they have the backing that they need as far as people that know what they are actually talking about. And other moms that are breastfeeding, that’s a big one.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: So, now that we’ve talked about confidence, and support, what about nurturing your body? You know, we want moms to eat, so that they can produce more milk, and we want them to drink lots of water, but what other step can they take to nurture their body?

GINNY ELIOT: Well, there’s no special diet that’s required for breastfeeding. There is no… Your body is designed to grow a baby during pregnancy, and to keep growing that baby on breastmilk. Yes, if you have a healthy diet, then you’re going to feel better, you are going to cope better with the broken sleep, you and baby are going to be both healthier. But there are no special foods you have to eat, or special foods you have to avoid. And I think if we talk too much about needing to do special stuff, take special vitamins, we’ll make breastfeeding sounds like it is too hard, and it is easy. It can be easy once you and your baby have learned to bat each other and learn how to get it together.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: And what was your diet like, Alicia?

ALICIA: Well, actually my son has a dairy and soya intolerance, so I do not eat any dairy, or any soya, so that I can continue to breastfeed him. But you know, that’s not the case with most moms, that’s just happens to be my case. But I mean, I eat what I want within those guidelines, of course. And I’ve lost a lot of weight while breastfeeding. But I mean, there’s so many good benefits. It makes me feel good too. I mean, if I am feeling stressed, and I nurse my baby, I just automatically feel better afterwards. You know, it releases oxytocin in your brain and everything.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Yeah.

GINNY ELIOT: Yes!

ALICIA: So I think as far as like nurturing your body and things are good for you while breastfeeding, I think a big part of it is I think your mental state, you know, like your mental health, you know. Try not to be stressed and over think everything, and just trust your body, and…

PRIYA NEMBHARD: …Don’t give up, right?

ALICIA: Yeah, if it something that you are passionate about, and you are determined about, then you can do it, you know, just keep at it.

GINNY ELIOT: I think the most important nurturing is the nurturing Alicia was speaking about-of surrounding yourself with other people who are also breastfeeding, who can help each other and keep each other going. I mean, it is the mental nurturing is probably more important than perhaps the physical nurturing. I think the other thing to be aware of thought is that by breastfeeding you have stop regularly. You need to sit down and lay down and feed your baby. I mean, yes, it is possible to feed on the go with the baby in the swing, but you don’t do that on every feed. And you know, you can look at it as this is my chance, I need to sit down, my baby needs to feed, I need to sit down, I need to put Netflix on for half an hour because I need to lay down and feed my baby.

ALICIA: It is like a little mini break in itself, because moms are… It is a 24/7 job. And so it is a nice little break when I need to go lay down with my baby and just nurse him and relax, and not being up and doing a million things for my household, you know.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: So, these are such great and important points that you both are making, and I am so glad we had this conversation! And I hope that moms who are listening do get the confidence they need, because they know that they are not alone, that other people have gone through this, like Alicia, and the moms that you have worked with, Ginny. Thank you so much to everyone, for being a part of today’s show and for sharing that experience! If you are member of The Boob Group, then be sure to check out the bonus content for this episode where we’ll discuss how IVF moms can prepare to breastfeed before the baby is born.

[Theme Music]

PRIYA NEMBHARD: So the next segment is Mama Hacks! And in this segment, we receive lots of great hack from moms who have breastfed and breast pumped. And this hack comes from Katie from Facebook. She says: Hi, ladies! I just started listening and I am really enjoying the series so far! I do remember hearing in an episode you saying you have listeners sending tips and referred ones about utilizing the lack down functions on pump. I have a tip for moms pumping at work as well. Instead of cleaning my pump parts after each pump at work, I refrigerate them to reduce the time I am in the pump room. I then only have to clean them once a day. Thank for the show, ladies! So this is a great tip! Because you think about how many times you have to go back and forward, and wash those pumps, and after each session at work, it’s a lot of work. So this is actually a great idea! I can just put them in the freezer and freeze them up, so the milk that’s on the pump itself won’t spoil.

GINNY ELIOT: No, no, not freezer, not freezer! In a sealed container in the fridge!

SUNNY GAULT: That is what I was going to say! I am so glad you said sealed container, because I am thinking oh, my Gosh! If she is like in a regular… Let’s just say there is just one big fridge for everyone…

GINNY ELIOT: And but at times as well. Moms that are pumping lots of times a day at home as well if they are building their milk supplies or they got a preemie baby the same thing applies, that they rinse of the refrigerator and do a full clean once in every 24hours.

SUNNY GAULT: Ok, so you still have to rinse it off with some water, stick it in some sort of ziplock bag?

GINNY ELIOT: That’s my understanding, that you rinse it, put it in a sealed container in the fridge, and only have to do that full clean once every 24 hours.

SUNNY GAULT:I got that saves a lot of time!

GINNY ELIOT: For women who are pumping frequently, yes, it can save a huge amount of time.

ALICIA: I’ve been pumping a lot trying to get my supply back up and yeah, washing pump parts…

PRIYA NEMBHARD: It is a lot of work!

ALICIA: Once a day is enough for me!

GINNY ELIOT: That’s why I often talk to moms who you know… If you have been told to pump to build your supply, it can be a lot more easier to just put the baby to the breast more often. If your baby is at home with you, and you are at home with your baby, putting your baby to the breast more often is a lot more easier than having to clean the pump and has the same effect.

ALICIA: Amen, sister!

[Theme Music]

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Amen sister! So that wraps up our show for today. Thanks for listening to The Boob Group!
Don’t forget to check out our sister show:
∞ Preggie Pals for expecting parents
∞ Newbies for newly postpartum moms
∞ Parent Savers for moms and dads with toddlers and
∞ Twin Talks for parents with multiples.

This is The Boob Group where moms know breast!

[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. The information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. While such information and materials are believed to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.

SUNNY GAULT: How would you like to have your own show on the New Mommy Media network? We are expanding our line-up and looking for great content. If you are a business or organization interested in learning more about our co-branded podcasts, visit our website at www.newmommymedia.com.

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