Stress & Breastfeeding: Tips to Help You Deal

Editor’s note: This post is sponsored by 1 Natural Way, a company that offer products and services for parents on their breastfeeding journeys. 

Stress.

A simple word that holds so much meaning, in so many different ways, to so many mothers around the world. Did you know that stress can affect your breast milk, its supply level, and even your bonding journey with your newborn?

1 Natural Way is here to help you better understand some common sources of stress for new moms, how it affects your breastfeeding, and a few ways to cope and manage so that your breastfeeding journey is less impacted by everyday stress.

Why Am I Stressed?

There are a litany of reasons for mothers of newborns and infants to feel stressed. Sure, having a baby is an incredibly joyous time, but the weight of financial worries, changing hormone levels, common breastfeeding problems, raising multiple children, going back to work, baby’s temperament, lack of breastfeeding support, relationships with family members, and more can stress you out. Phew!

Here are a few more common stressors that mothers just like you face:

1. Lack of Sleep. Breastfeeding a baby frequently and taking care of a newborn, coupled with everyday chores, tasks, and appointments really weighs on a mother’s sleep cycle. As it compounds, lack of sleep can make daily tasks much harder to cope with and leave you feeling exhausted.
2. Pain After Delivery. While having a natural birth can cause an immense amount of pain to your pelvic floor, those mothers who have had a cesarean birth must deal with the pain of a wound healing, while trying to tend to their newborn. Breastfeeding is not easy when you have a C-section incision in a place where baby may need to rest while feeding. Pain from an episiotomy can also add to daily discomfort during your first few weeks at home, not to mention the amount of bleeding and uterine discomfort mothers feel in the weeks after birth.
3. Breastfeeding Fears. Why isn’t my baby latching properly? What if I don’t want to breastfeed in public? Why am I not making enough milk for my own child? What if I want to pump my milk exclusively and not nurse? These questions and more often linger in the minds of mothers when it comes to pumping and nursing. Comparing your personal breastfeeding journey to that of family members, friends, influences, and celebrities may leave us feeling doubtful and stressed.

How Does Stress Affect Breastfeeding?

You can bet your baby feels your uneasiness and, since you are the primary producer of breast milk (a life-sustaining, nutrient-fortified, antibody-producing powerhouse), the milk can also be affected. Too much stress can have negative side effects. And we’re not telling you to stress you out more—we want you to know just how important it is to take care of you. Here are a few ways that stress can affect breastfeeding:

1. Decreased breast milk supply. When a mother feels stressed, she may not want to breastfeed as frequently. This leads to a decrease in supply since baby is not nursing as often.
2. Inhibit the letdown reflex. When nerves in your breast are stimulated by a baby sucking on your nipple, oxytocin (a hormone) prompts small muscles around milk-producing cells to contract and squeeze milk into the ducts. The letdown reflex ensures that baby gets enough milk. If a mother is stressed, her body may release more adrenaline, thereby decreasing or blocking prolactin (a hormone that promotes milk production) and oxytocin.
3. Bonding. During feeding, when baby is not latching like they should, mom gets frustrated and then baby gets even more agitated. All the while, mom is stressed and questioning what she is doing wrong; that her own child won’t feed from her properly. She then becomes anxious every time it is time for a feeding. If you feel this way, the bond between your child and you may become strained.
4. Early weaning. Long-lasting stress and stressful feeding experiences can hinder the nursing routine. This may lead to a child stopping breastfeeding long before their natural weaning begins.
5. Milk composition. Mothers who are stressed often have a high amount of the hormone cortisol in their breast milk. Cortisol may affect a baby’s temperament and development. Stress and coping mechanisms also bring about an increase in consumption of caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, medicine, unhealthy foods, and more. These items make their way into your breastmilk supply, thereby changing the milk composition. Of course, those consuming items that endanger the health of their baby should seek help from their primary care physician in order to find solutions to stress factors.

How to De-stress

Sure, de-stressing is easier said than done when you have a crying baby, dinner in the oven, work emails piling up, dogs ready to be walked, the mail carrier delivering a pile of bills, children running around the house writing on the walls, and so on. Good news, though—it can be done!

Here are some simple ways to de-stress while at home:

• Sleep when your baby sleeps. An extra nap or two can make a world of difference. Laundry and dirty dishes can wait.
• Talk to your partner or family members. Discuss the origin of your stress and what kind of solution they can help you work toward. The discussion may not always be easy, but it helps in the end. The first step is bringing it up.
• Change where and how you breastfeed. Try breastfeeding lying down. Move your go-to breastfeeding chair to another room. Set up a breastfeeding-friendly area with a place to binge on Netflix, guzzle some water, and kick your feet up.
• Pump that breast milk! Maybe nursing isn’t for you, for whatever reason. You can still give your little one breast milk by pumping for them. 1 Natural Way can help connect you with the perfect breast pump.
• Set a schedule and stick to it. Some mothers thrive in an organized environment and live and die by their calendar. Being a mom can sometimes throw that timeline into the wind and create a stressful environment. However, some mothers feel that set times led to even more stress, so in those cases, let the schedule go.
• We know it’s hard, but try to find 20 minutes to take a warm bath (alone) to soothe your tense muscles and promote deep breathing.

Here are some simple ways to de-stress while out of the house:

• Hit the gym. Release those endorphins and work up a sweat. You could even enroll in a baby and mommy workout class.
• Take your family pet out for a walk. Going alone works, but even pushing around your little one in a stroller while taking in a beautiful, sunny afternoon has its advantages, too.
• Meet other mothers just like you. Discussing your problems, while finding someone to relate to, has a healing quality. Decompressing to someone who is willing to listen is key.
• Grocery shop…in the healthy aisles! Stock up on foods with healthy, nutritious, vitamin-filled items. 1 Natural Way has written a guide all about foods to eat and avoid while breastfeeding. Click here to read all about it.
• Go see a movie. Often times, local movie theaters offer showings that are strictly for mothers with children or newborns. You’ll be among your peers with many other screaming kids and nursing mothers.
• Enroll in a yoga or meditation class. Deep breathing techniques and stretches can help calm you down at home.

1 Natural Way offers a complete array of products and services to make moms more comfortable and confident throughout their pregnancy and breastfeeding journeys. We provide mothers with name-brand breast pumps, monthly breastfeeding supplies, maternity compression stockings, and postpartum recovery garments, as well as expert and compassionate advice and top-notch customer service. Click here to start the qualification process, and find out if you qualify for a breast pump at no cost to you.