PCOS NUTRITION CENTER BLOG

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• Kristen September 1, 2015 at 5:13 pm I had a similar situation. I had my heart set on breastfeed I discussed this with my dr but never heard anything from anyone about breastfeeding being a potential problem. I realized it was a problem when my son was loosing weight like crazy. I had a lactation consultant come in because of his latch and we started discussing how long he feeds and how he’s constantly hungry. We weighed him and he had lost a pound! I started pumping in between feedings. The part in upset about is the fact that no one mentioned it being an issue. Even after talking to the lactation consultant! She just kept saying it takes time for the milk to let down. I was pumping enough to give my son a 1oz bottle ONCE A DAY! He was feeding and having formula because of this. I spoke with my dr and tried the creek as well as stimulation, skin to skin and anything else the doctor recommended. I actually wound up in the hospital 3 weeks later due to an infected c section site that reopened. This time I spoke to a different lactation consultant who told me breast feeding would be almost impossible because a) my breasts were not big enough (not much tissue) b) I didn’t have many milk glands (and the ones I had were very small) C) my insulin resistance and high testosterone levels also hindered my development as a teen. After my hospitalization I realized I didn’t have the energy to pump every three hours. I was even starting to dry up! Needless to say, my baby is on formula and very happy. I wish I had this information when I was pregnant and considering breast feeding. It would have saved me from my depression when I felt like a horrible mother for not being able to feed my child! Once I found out the reason I was able to begin moving forward. Thank you for your story!!

• Laura September 2, 2015 at 5:13 pm Well, this explains a lot! My boobs never grew while I was pregnant and haven’t in the 3 months I have been breastfeeding. I’ve tried everything to make more milk (lactation cookies, oatmeal, fenugreek, pumping/feeding more), but it seems that an ounce to an ounce and a half every three or four hours is all I’m going to get. I assumed that I’d just screwed something up in the early stages of postpartum life and was too dumb to fix it. Maybe it’s just my hormones! I feel a little better now.

• Kara October 6, 2015 at 5:13 pm I was diagnosed with PCOS about a month before I became pregnant with my daughter. I had no information about the condition much less information about how it might effect pregnancy and breastfeeding. I tried for about a month and in that time I may have pumped/fed a TOTAL of 2 ounces. I had a lactation consultant but either she had no info about PCOS or didn’t know it might be an issue. I want every mother to know that if you can’t, it’s ok. Yes, most of us would prefer to breastfeed (especially if we’re on this site) but DO NOT blame yourself, fault yourself, or demean yourself because it couldn’t happen for you. My daughter is 4 and happy and healthy and she’s beautiful young lady. Be the best mother you can be and you will both be fine.

• Kay April 24, 2016 at 7:25 pm I have had 2 children so far, working on number 3, 10 weeks to go! With both of my other children, I felt like there wasn’t enough milk, and I supplemented with formula, but never had a formal diagnosis. This time, I have more information, the last two times, I had no idea PCOS had anything to do with breast feeding… I am so thankful for this article!

• alsector July 6, 2016 at 7:59 am I have PCOS and I did have low milk supply. This caused my daughter to fall asleep while breastfeeding as she wasn’t getting much milk. We were forced to supplement on day 3 as she lost 10% of her body weight. After one week, she no longer wanted to breastfeed as the milk in the bottle came out so much faster and easier. After about a week, I started pumping and was able to give her about half of her milk intake. All in all, this was a very difficult experience for me. No one at the hospital or my OBGYN provided any guidance or explanation for my low milk supply. I always wondered if it wasn’t related to my PCOS.

• Amy July 6, 2016 at 11:07 pm I have PCOS and my daughter is 3 months old. I have been able to successfully breastfeed her, mainly I think because I’ve continued taking metformin to help with my insulin level. I can relate to the part of the article on breast tissue though- I’m doing it all on one boob. I am really lopsided now, and one side barely makes an ounce in a day. It’s going to be interesting finding bras! One side is a C and the working side is an E.

• Iryna August 4, 2016 at 10:18 am Wish I had this information when my daughter was born. I tried breastfeeding and could only breast feed for 3 months. My daughter would not always latch on, on top of me only pumping about 4 ounces all together, and having to supplement with formula. My doctor had even given me medicine to help, along with me drinking tea to help. I think if I had this information my whole situation could have been better.

• Tristen Anderson March 1, 2017 at 5:29 pm I am a bf’ing mom with PCOS. This is my third baby and I am grateful to have had wonderful experiences bf’ing. One question I am trying to figure out is if there is any research yet about the milk composition of moms with PCOS. All my babies have been big from the start and gain a lot of weight their first year. We joke that my milk is super milk. All giggles aside, I wonder if this is just genetics or related to my milk composition. And does PCOS impact that? Does anyone know of any research about this?

• Angela Grassi March 2, 2017 at 9:57 am Great question Tristen! I don’t think milk composition in breastfeeding women with PCOS has been researched but would be interesting to learn.

• Stacy May 2, 2017 at 3:48 pm With my previous 2 babies, I have made lots of milk and after a month my milk supply would completely stop. I am now pregnant with my 3rd, What should I do or take? I want to breastfeed my baby longer than the previous 2. I’ve always set goals to exclusively breast feed for their 1st year of life. I’ve had PCOS since I was a teen.

• Angela Grassi May 4, 2017 at 8:04 am In addition to the strategies we list in the article, I would recommend working with a lactation consultant so that you can have long-term success with nursing.

• Ragni May 11, 2017 at 3:48 pm I had a hard time in the beginning, but in the rear view mirror that might be because of a long time exposure to pitocin during labor for both me and my kid. Keep in mind, that CS can also cause a delay in milk production, and a delay often (rightly so) means the kids get supplementatin with bank milk or formula. Which decreases the stimulation at an early stage and when bottle fed also often is followed by nipple confusion. I am really happy that my PCOS didn’t affect my overall breastfeeding duration. 24 months and still going. I also became a lactation consultant, so I could help others through the first confusing and hard times, And through later confusing and hard times, hehe,

• Roxy Haynes September 21, 2017 at 12:21 am I have PCOS and my daughter is 12 months old now. I never had a problem breastfeeding her, and at the beginning I had a good supply. The issue became when my daughter stopped gaining the amount of weight she needed at 4 months old. Since 4 months old we have had weight gain issues, and now that she is 12 months old, her Doctor diagnosed her failure to thrive, I never knew that with PCOS and having hormonal imbalances, my milk would not be producing what my daughter needed. Now starting tomorrow we a working on weaning her off, and sadly it will be cold turkey. My daughter is set on wanting her milk and nursing, but I just can’t keep on doing it when I am hurting her health more than anything. My heart is broken and I feel like I failed her. I wish I would have known how PCOS was going to affect breastfeeding her. I remembered the day she was born and when I latched her for the first 4 days she was not peeing or even having any dirty diapers. She was dehydrated, and loosing weight really fast. I was never told how much havin PCOS would affect my breastfeeding journey. We saw many lactation consultants about her not gaining weight, and nobody told me. They just kept telling me she was ok and to keep on putting her to the breast. Now I has been 8 months of her having weight issues and I feel guilty. I am so upset nobody took the time to tell me about my PCOS and breastfeeding.

• Tinisha December 14, 2017 at 12:20 am TY for this article. I just was diagnosed with PCOS. I had a baby 3 years ago but that was after 10 years of being told I couldn’t have kids. I did have issues breastfeeding. I used supplements, pumped & a consultant. Nothing would come out. I was so sad & didn’t feel like the best mom cuz we had to use formula. I now know my high testosterone & insulin resistance were a major factor. I wish I knew 3 years ago but now I feel more at ease.

• Angela Grassi December 14, 2017 at 9:25 am Tinisha, you are a good mamma!

• Caroline June 9, 2018 at 10:05 pm Hi, I’m wondering if inositol or bitter melon are helpful for women with PCOS with low milk supply?

• Oyin August 19, 2018 at 6:00 pm Thanks so much for this article. 14 years ago when I had my first daughter I was determined to breastfeed. I felt like such a failure because I never produced enough milk. I stubbornly stuck with it for 5 months, spending hours breastfeeding and pumping in between. The poor baby was always hungry and cranky, nothing like the happy, content, breastfed baby I wanted. I just had another baby and the same is repeating itself. This time I agreed to supplement just until my milk comes in. My baby is Happy, sleeping well, only cries when hungry. I still put her to the breast, but it’s mainly for comfort because I only produce an ounce or ounce and half every 3 hours. My baby needs at least 1 oz every hour, All this while, I never knew or read anything linking my low supply with my PCOS. This has been a relief. I no longer blame myself for my low supply.

• Foufouti March 7, 2019 at 5:46 am Thanks for the article and good to read all these comments. I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was a teen. I don’t get periods and I don’t ovulate. I had my first daughter 4 years ago (took Clomid to ovulate). She was tiny (5 pounds – 2.2Kg) and 3 weeks early. I wasn’t able to breastfeed her. I felt like a bad mum. I tried everything, keeping her on the breast, skin to skin, expressing, I had so much fenugreek that I now hate it… 🙂 and I never managed to express more than 1 ounce (30ml) a day (by expressing 5 times or so…)! I wanted to give my baby some breast milk so I continued to express THE ounce for 4 months…and supplementing with formula obviously. It was exhausting. By then, I had developed postnatal depression. I was putting far too much pressure on myself. I didn’t think that PCOS could be the issue. My midwife and health visitor kept saying that every mum is able to breastfeed… It was only when I went to see the GP for depression that he mentioned the possible link between PCOS and low milk supply. Four years later, I am trying again with baby n2. I had the position and latch checked and validated multiple times at the hospital and newborn checks. All good. But still had to supplement with formula at day 3 because baby was hungry and wouldn’t settle at all otherwise (I hadn’t slept for 24 hours when we tried giving her formula and she settled immediately…). So I went to see breastfeeding support groups and two lactation consultants said that PCOS are indeed making things difficult. They have been really supportive, listening, checking my medical history, and making me feel much better. I do not want to develop postnatal depression so I am keeping my target modest and I know that exclusively breastfeeding is not realistic in my case. I put the little one on the breast, express and supplement with formula. She is growing nicely. I am doing better than with my first already: at almost 4 weeks old my daughter is getting roughly 350ml of formula and is breastfed otherwise. Expressing is still hard. I get 40ml each time, but it takes 40 minutes to get this much… I am doing my best. The lactation consultant asked my GP to prescribe Domperidone to increase my milk supply. I will try and see if this works. I will keep you posted.

• Trisha April 21, 2019 at 5:29 am This article was so helpful! I was not able to breastfeed and had never thought of the possibility of it being related to my PCOS. Thank you for these tips!

• Jen August 2, 2022 at 1:03 pm I just wanted to thank you for this article it hit a very fragile place for me and other women I know with pcos.. I became a mother for the first time nearing 24 years ago after a battle with fertility. Not much was known about PCOS then. And the obstacles I was facing seemed unfamiliar to not only myself but my health care providers. So when my son was born I was eager to breast feed it seemed important but quickly turned into a nightmare. He wasn’t gaining weight. For nearly a month I had to sit with lactation consultant’s who had me feed and weigh and feed again push prod poke all day long at the clinic!. I was made to feel like a failure. Finally my OB said “good moms feed babies formula too and I wonder if pcos is the cause for decreased milk supply.” I felt the weight lift off my shoulders. 12 years later (yep 12 years of trying and prayers) the same thing happened- I was devastated but gave him what I could and the rest of his meal was formula. Then a surprise pregnancy a few months later . I had a new dr and lactation consultant they started me pumping before birth..only to have low milk supply too but at least she was fed for longest period of time. I share my story because breast feeding feels like motherhood it feels like our natural duty to be the best mom for our babies we prayed so hard for but I assure you all 3 of my kids are happy healthy and equally attached to mom! It doesn’t define us or separate us- doing our best is being a good mom. Even 24 years later! I am so thankful for more information and potential solutions for my friends and family dealing with pcos. Thanks again for sharing this information.

• Angela Grassi August 4, 2022 at 12:02 pm Thank you for sharing your story Jen!