Everyone, at some point in their lives, has experienced stress. In the broadest sense, “stress” happens when there is anything that threatens the body’s ability to maintain balance. If you’re a breastfeeding mom, stress may have a whole new meaning now. It’s having to manage your household and take care of a baby at the same time. There’s also so much pressure for moms to produce enough breast milk for their babies. Having all of these in mind, frustration and stress will surely run high. But how does stress impact your breastfeeding experience? Can stress cause breast milk to dry up?

Story Time

My issue with stress and breastfeeding was that I was so worried about my milk production not being enough. It eventually started to become a self-fulfilling prophecy; the more I stressed about milk production the less I had. I was also incorrectly judging my milk production by what I was pumping (this is usually on 30% of your actual production).

Once I learned to trust my body and focused on caring for myself and my baby, I then started to see that my actual production was perfectly healthy.

In A Nutshell…

Stress is caused by several factors including those that come from your environment, the changes in your body, or breastfeeding pressures.
Stress can have an impact on your breastfed baby and your breast milk supply.
Babies that are breastfed by stressed moms will have high cortisol levels in their body, resulting in a change in the baby’s disposition and behavior. In addition, they may also be weaned early and have less bonding times with their mother.
Stress has an indirect effect on your breast milk supply. Not breastfeeding as much because you are stressed can lead to lower milk supply. Also, stress inhibits the hormones that trigger the let-down reflex, thus not getting to lactate enough for your baby.
Stress will happen to a breastfeeding mom one way or another. It’s best to be able to deal with these healthily through effective stress relief methods.

What Are The Causes of Stress in Breastfeeding Mothers?

Stress can come from several factors. With breastfeeding moms, stress originates from their environment, the changes in their bodies, or breastfeeding pressures and anxieties.

Stresses from the environment

Troubled relationship with a partner. Your partner should be your number 1 support system when breastfeeding. It’s definitely frustrating when your partner doesn’t help around or support your breastfeeding.
Rough birthing experience. You can’t be certain that you will have a smooth sailing delivery. When the mom has to give birth prematurely or do a c-section unexpectedly, these can become traumatic experiences.
Experiencing financial problems. Financial woes can become a significant stress factor. With the new baby around, many couples are surprised at how much they have to spend on diapers and baby needs. Not being financially prepared to have a child can cause distress to the parents.
Being judged for breastfeeding in public. Although breastfeeding laws have been passed to enable women to breastfeed in public, many are still concerned about their privacy and the judgment they get for exposing their breasts outside the comfort of their homes.
Having a fussy baby. Babies can also have different dispositions in their early ages. Some are quite easy to handle, while some become very challenging to take care off. A baby who sleeps fewer cries a lot, and gets easily annoyed can be difficult to handle, thus adding to the stress of the mother.

Stresses From The Body

Physical discomfort. It’s unavoidable to feel pain and discomfort postpartum as the body takes time to heal. In addition, once breastfeeding begins, the breast may experience engorgement and soreness around the nipples. All these can be uncomfortable and result in physical stress for the mom.
Sleepless nights. Taking care of a baby demands that you may have to sacrifice restful sleep for a couple of nights. Not getting enough slumber can take a toll on the mother’s body.
Changes in hormones. From the time of pregnancy up until postpartum, a woman’s body goes through many hormonal changes. These can greatly affect their moods, weight, and physical appearance.

Stresses from breastfeeding

Breastfeeding anxieties. Many new moms find breastfeeding a bizarre feeling. The lack of experience can make a mother worry about how well they are breastfeeding.
Having enough breast milk. It’s hard to be able to tell right away if you’re nursing your baby enough. Especially for new breastfeeding moms, it ’s common to stress over their capability to produce adequate breast milk for their babies.

The Impacts of Stress on Breastfeeding

Stress can greatly influence your breastfeeding. This can have an impact on both your breastfeeding baby and your breast milk supply.

Effects of Stress on Your Baby

Cortisol can have an effect on your baby’s disposition. In order to adapt to stressful environments, your body releases the stress hormones: cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. Studies have shown that having high cortisol levels in the breastfeeding mom’s body also increases the cortisol levels in breast milk. In turn, it may also influence their child’s behavior and attitude in a way that they cry more and become easily agitated.
Lower interest to bond with the child. Breastfeeding helps in building that strong and nurturing bond between the baby and the mother. However, stress can easily demotivate the mom to breastfeed, which eventually results in changes in their nursing behavior as well.
Weaning early into solid foods. Prolonged stress due to breastfeeding might make the mom wean early so that they can start feeding their little ones with solid foods. Early weaning is not advisable as babies less than 6 months are not yet biologically prepared to digest solids. This can also put the baby’s growth and development at risk.

Can Stress Dry Up Your Breast Milk?

Somehow, YES, stress can cause breast milk to dry! Being stressed doesn’t necessarily mean that you will produce less milk. However, the changes in nursing behavior can lead to lower milk supply.

Low demand = low supply. Breast milk production is directly proportional to how regularly you nurse your baby. So the more you feed, the more breast milk you can produce. But during stressful situations, you may not be able to nurse your baby as often or as long.
Stress can affect your let-down reflex. The let-down reflex, or the milk-ejection reflex, is responsible for pushing out milk from your breast. Upon nipple stimulation by the baby, the hormone Oxycontin is released from the brain. This triggers the milk ducts to shorten and widen, increases the pressure in the breast, and then ejects the milk from the breast. According to research, stress inhibits the release of Oxycontin, thus affecting the amount of milk you can pump out.

5 Tips For Breastfeeding Stress Relief

Truth is, it can be difficult to avoid stress at all cost. However, there are always healthy ways to deal with stress. It really depends on how well you practice your coping skills to prevent stress from getting in the way of your breastfeeding.

Before anything else, self-care is very important. Treat yourself well by eating right, exercising, and taking a good amount of rest. And although these might be hard on its own to do if you’re an all-around breastfeeding mom, try these 5 tips to relieve the stress from breastfeeding:

Have some me-time. It’s important to give yourself some alone time. Go for a walk or just isolate yourself in another room so you can take a few moments to yourself.
Try meditation. Meditating is a good way to de-stress as it allows you to concentrate on breathing which can help you calm down.
Communicate your stress away. One best stress relief is just by being able to vent and unload your burdens to a loved one. You can also consult a doctor or a therapist if you’re having intense feelings of anxiety or depression.
Get moving. Exercising is a good stress relieving method as its release endorphins which can release positive feelings in the body. Just going for a walk, doing yoga, or simply stretching can do wonders for your body!
Stay away from vices. Alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs can ultimately harm you and your baby. It’s not recommended at all to take these addictive substances to manage your stress.

The Takeaway…

Stress happens when there is a sudden threat to the body’s balance. In response, it releases different coping hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine to maintain equilibrium in the body. Although short term stress can be beneficial as it helps to improve your body’s adaptability, chronic stress can lead to tissue damage, illness, and for a breastfeeding mom, a lower breast milk supply.

Stress in breastfeeding mothers can be caused by various factors from the environment, their body, or from the pressures of breastfeeding. Although stress has an indirect effect on breastfeeding, it can have an impact on the breastfeeding baby and your breast milk supply. Being stressed will be inevitable, so it’s best to cope up through healthy stress relieving methods. Take care of yourself and communicate your feelings to calm yourself down to ease your breastfeeding journey.