Breastfeeding & Breastmilk brought up Questions
During my breastfeeding journey one of the thing I always thought about was the content of my milk. I knew from school and what I learned about breastfeeding and lactation consultants that my body makes the right milk that my baby needs. Also, that baby’s needs trump what I need to an extent. So if for instance, if i wasn’t consuming enough calcium for the baby, my body will pull calcium from my bones or teeth to give it to the baby. This was reassuring to me that breastmilk is the magic milk for babies. Except, I knew that there had to be limits. Like what if i did not have a nutrient stored in my body, how would a baby get that nutrient if i didn’t eat it? Also, why do some have super fatty milk over others who have less fat content in their breast milk. Is there a way to increase the amount of fat content in your milk?
Lactation Lab...is it the answer?
Enter Lactation Lab. I had heard about this awesome company during my pregnancy through Needed, my prenatal vitamin. I try to eat a well balanced diet, during both pregnancy and postpartum but I know I don’t always eat a super nutritious diet 100% of the time. So I was super curious about my milk content. With my first baby, she was a chunky chunky monkey, rolls for days, but with my second baby, he was far from chunky and was more lean compared to my first. I was not prepared for this, I was prepared to have another chunky baby, and when he did not have rolls for days, I was concerned my milk was not enough for him. Maybe I wasn’t eating the same as I did with my first baby and that’s why he isn’t chunky.
We did our first round of testing in October of 2021, Colin was 3 months at that time. Then we did a second round of testing this past March of 2022, Colin was 9 months at this time. It was super cool to compare the difference between the two, and the content was really reassuring to me both times.
Collection Process
When doing the milk collection, there are two different kits. The standard kit and the premium kits. The standard kit tests for nutrients and vitamins to include Calories, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, calcium, Iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin B12. The premium kits include all the same as the standard plus additional DHA, which is an omega-3 fatty acid, and environmental toxins of arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium. The Standard Kit you only need to collect 30mL of breastmilk versus the premium kit you need 60mL of breastmilk. The kit comes with everything you need to collect the milk, instructions, the milk tubes, ice packs, bag for milk tube, and shipping package with the label to ship it back.
Collection process was super easy, they recommend collecting small amounts of milk throughout the day to get a better picture of overall milk content. Since our milk content changes throughout the day. So I slowly collected milk throughout the day from both breasts and put the tube into the freezer at the end of the day. Then the next morning I packed the milk and ice into the envelope and dropped it in the mailbox. It took around 7-10 days for me to get the results back both times we did the milk collection. They send an email with all the results attached with a summary along with some recommendations in the email.
See our Instagram Reel below of the process!
Now the Results!
My first testing, Colin was 3 months old and only drank breast milk as his form of nutrition. The caloric content of my breast milk was above average at 96kcal/dl, or 28.4 kcal/oz. They gave a reference range that most formulas were 68kcal/dl or 20kcal/oz. This was reassuring to me that even though Colin was on the smaller size, he was getting enough calories from my milk! The caloric content of your milk determines how much energy is in your milk based on the fat, carbohydrate, and protein content. So the next content they tell you are those three components. Carbohydrates in my milk were within the normal range at 8.7g/dl. The main carb in our milk is lactose, which is why if you have ever tasted your breast milk, it has a sweet taste. My fat content in my milk, much to my surprise, was above average at 6.0g/dl. I was pretty sure I was going to have low fat content based on Colin’s weight. So this was a very pleasant surprise. Last, the protein level in my milk was average at 1g/dl. So I think the high caloric content of my milk had a lot to do with the high fat content!
Next up are the nutrient levels that they test, first being Calcium. My Calcium was on the higher end of normal range at 55mg/dl. This was one thing I was supplementing with in my prenatal vitamin because I had low calcium with Lily. I only knew my calcium and vitamin D were low with Lily and that my body was pulling Calcium from other parts of my body because of my dentist. My body was pulling calcium from my teeth to put in my milk, my dentist told me during a cleaning. They recommended I get my calcium and Vitamin D tested, and sure enough I was really low in both! So with this pregnancy and postpartum and ensured I was eating calcium rich food and supplementing additionally! My Iron was on the lower end of normal at 0.17mg/dl, which I kind of expected. My iron level is usually low for myself. They recommended supplementing with an Iron supplement or eating more Iron rich foods like meats or leafy greens. My Vitamin A was on the higher end of normal at 907mcg/dl. Vitamin C was on the lower end of normal at 31mg/L, and they recommended I supplement. I thought it was kind of cool to see that my Vitamin C was low, because I had been craving more Vitamin C rich foods, like lemons, oranges, kiwis, and strawberries. The last result was for Vitamin B12, i was on the lower end of normal at 2.0ug/dl. They also recommended I look at supplementing this vitamin along with some food recommendations to increase it.
My second testing was done in March 2022, when Colin was 9 months old. At this time he was now eating solids and puree foods. So his diet was exclusively breast milk anymore and I expected the levels to be adjusted based on that! The caloric content of my milk was lower than it was previously at 71kcal/dl. Still higher than the average formula, but he didn’t need to get all his calories from me anymore, so it makes sense it would be lower. The carbohydrates were the same as before at 8.7g/dl, and protein was also similar at 0.9g/dl. The fat was where the biggest change was! The fat content of my milk dropped from 6 to 3g/dl. This would probably explain the change in caloric content. Colin’s food diet was pretty high in fat content, so it would make sense that he wouldn’t need to get a lot of fat from my milk anymore.
Now onto the nutrients, Calcium was even higher than before at 73g/dl! I had increased the amount of milk and cheese i was eating, so it was cool to see that i had affected the calcium level in my milk. My Iron level also increased to 0.40mg/dl, which was the higher end of normal. This was awesome to see because I had started taking an Iron supplement that I had from Needed, and then started using my cast iron skillet more! Vitamin A dropped a little but still above average at 702mcg/dl. My Vitamin C was still on the lower end at 32mg/L, so I am looking into supplementing Vitamin C instead of relying on my cravings for citrus fruits and other high Vitamin C foods. Vitamin B12 was low again, and even lower than last time at 1.5mcg/L. They recommended I get my Vitamin B12 level tested and to supplement, so I ordered a supplement for Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C!
Now onto the difference between the Standard and Premium kit. DHA was tested in the premium kit and my level was within the normal range of 0.32%. DHA is an omega 3 fatty acid which is critical for infant growth especially in the brain, skin, and eye development. I am taking an Omega-3 supplement so I was glad to see it was helping! Now onto the environmental toxins/heavy metals. All the tests were 0 for mercury, cadmium, and lead. Which was cool to see. Arsenic though was slightly detected at .0014ppm. Arsenic can be found in rice, grains, and cereals; and we eat a lot of all of those things. So would explain why I would have it in my milk. It was a low enough level that it’s not a concern but I could cut back on rice and grain to potentially lower it in my milk.
Is it worth it? Or does it create more stress?
I know some have expressed that this test could cause more stress to the already stressful breastfeeding process, but I feel the opposite about it. It actually reassured me that the milk I was creating for my baby was exactly what they needed. Especially with a baby that was slow to gain and in the 10th percentile for weight, this reassured me that it wasn’t due to my milk not being enough for him! It was also cool to see that my diet is important when it comes to the nutritional content, that if I increase certain supplements and food intakes it can increase the content in my milk as well!
You can join us in testing your breastmilk here and use our code MAMASTE for a discount on any of their products!