Pregnancy and childbirth require hard work from a woman’s body. In Chinese medical terms, qi (energy) and blood is taken from the mother to support her baby. During the post-partum period a breast feeding mother must restore enough qi and blood to recover from her pregnancy and support lactation.
Chinese medicine categorizes difficulty in lactation into two groups
Insufficient Lactation
Absent lactation
Insufficient lactation
Absent or scanty lactation, distention of the breasts, hardness and pain of the breasts, hypochondrial distention and pain, irritability and anger in terms of mood.
Cause
Often emotional factors such as worry, anger, frustration or resentment cause blockage in the breast area, obstructing the flow of milk. In this case breast milk is being produced normally but is unable to flow out.
Treatment
Acupressure and acupuncture treatment can be very successful in promoting circulation in the breast, relieving milk flow. In addition, acupuncture can greatly improve emotional changes and allow new mothers to handle stress better.
Absent lactation
Often mothers will experience watery milk, no feeling of distension of the breasts, poor appetite, exhaustion and depression.
Cause
Absent lactation is often caused by profuse blood loss during labour or long and difficult labours can lead to exhaustion of the body’s energy or qi leading to the lack of production of breast milk.
Treatment
A combination of Acupuncture, herbal medicine and moxibustion can replenish the body’s qi and blood levels allowing the production of breast milk.
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