Low Milk Supply Related to Iodine Deficiency? April 22, 2008

Ever since I discovered that I was hypothyroid and iodine deficient, I’ve been digging around on the internet, trying to find a connection between an underactive thyroid gland and iodine deficiency and low milk supply.

I did my best to breast feed Baby Kate but it was not easy. I had to start supplementing at just 4 months. Thank goodness I found the Weston A. Price Foundation and the homemade raw milk formula.

Nonetheless, It was so disheartening to me. I felt like such a failure.

Everyone gave me advice. “Just nurse more. Stay in bed with the baby for 3 days.” Or “Drink more fluids.” I did everything they said to do and more. I even took fenugreek drops and drank the tea.

Nothing worked. My supply dwindled. Nonetheless, I kept nursing and pumping until she was 9 months old. Most people say that’s a pretty good run.

Nobody ever suggested that there could be a physiological reason that I could not produce enough milk. In fact, some women got angry when I asked that question. They said that it was purely cultural. They said that it was my fault for giving my baby a pacifier or a bottle or because I was not nursing often enough.

But I couldn’t help but wonder. Could there be a physiological link? Why was my milk supply so low? Why did I have to pump or nurse frantically every 3-4 hours just to maintain the limited milk production I had?

Meanwhile, Yensi, our nanny, nurses her 16-month-old anywhere from 2-6 times a day. “Some days it’s twice a day, sometimes it’s six times a day.” Depending on whether she’s with Julianna or not. Yensi did not have to lie in bed with her baby to continue to produce milk. She went back to work when Julianna was six months old.

How can she do that? I always thought you had to keep pumping and keep nursing. I’ve even heard mothers say that if you don’t keep nursing all through the night you will lose your supply.

Meanwhile all Yensi has to do is eat a piece of sprouted toast and she feels her milk come in. Whether she nurses a lot or a little, she still has milk. It is not stressful for her — it’s just easy and natural.

Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?!

Yes, I know that some women have a better milk supply. But isn’t it possible that there’s something more to this? Could it be that there is something we are lacking in our diet that reduces our milk supply? Could it be a nutritional deficiency?

I started researching it but came up empty. No doctors were making the connection between thyroid disease or iodine deficiency and low milk supply. Nor were lactation specialists talking about it. They were all talking about the dangers of pacifiers and telling the mothers to stay in bed with the baby. Not really an option if you have to go back to work!

Then I found this website — it’s for a class on Lactation Biology taught by Professor Walter L. Hurley in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana.

It says the class provides “fundamental information about the biology of lactation in mammals.”

Get ready for this: “Thyroid hormones are essential for maximal secretion of milk.”

Hmm… thryoid hormones. The thyroid gland produces thyroid hormones. So you need a strong thyroid gland that produces lots of hormones if you want to produce a lot of milk.

Let me back up and explain how the thyroid gland works and why iodine is so important. Iodine is stored in the thyroid gland.

According to Wikipedia:

The thyroid hormones, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), are tyrosine-based hormones produced by the thyroid gland. An important component in the synthesis is iodine.

So you need enough iodine for the thyroid to produce enough hormones. Where else is iodine stored in the body? In the breasts!

Anyone see a connection here?

I read more on the Lactation Biology website:

Thyroidectomy can be achieved by surgical procedures or by irradiating the thyroid by ingesting radioactive iodine which is sequestered into the thyroid and essentially destroys the thyroid function. Thyroidectomy in cattle by either method results in decreased milk yield.

Injection of thyroid hormone into cattle for 7 weeks at 25% above the normal thyroid secretion rate results in increase milk yield by 27%.

Feeding thyroprotein (iodinated casein — milk protein with added iodine) to cows increases milk yield by 10% in early lactation and by 15-20% in late lactation.

I’m going to continue researching this but I have to tell you — I think I am on to something! Finally — a possible answer to why my milk supply was so low.

I’ve decided, based on this information, that I am going to try to go back to breast feeding. I know, Kate’s 12 months now and I could probably just skip it. And it may not work.

But I have two pretty big reasons for wanting to do this:

1.) Immunity. We have not vaccinated her since she was 4 months old (and I regret letting them do that. They gave her 5 shots in one day!). One way to impart immunity to the child is from the inherited immunity of the mother — through the breast milk.

“Through your breast milk, you give your baby immunities to illnesses to which you are immune and also those to which you have been exposed. Nursing also allows your baby to give germs to you so that your immune system can respond and can synthesize antibodies! This means that if your baby has come in contact with something which you have not, (s)he will pass these germs to you at the next nursing; during that feeding, your body will start to manufacture antibodies for that particular germ. By the time the next feeding arrives, your entire immune system will be working to provide immunities for you and your baby. If you are exposed to any bacteria or viruses, your body will be making antibodies against them and these will be in your milk” (La Leche League).

2.) Iodine. I’m concerned about Kate’s iodine stores. If I am iodine deficient, most likely, she is also iodine deficient. Yes, I could supplement her with Lugol’s drops but I would much rather give her iodine through my own breast milk.

Now, as to how hard it will be to restart breast feeding. Some say it can be difficult, but for many mothers, it is totally doable.

I found this website for adoptive mothers who want to breastfeed. It says that most women are able to successfully breastfeed their adopted children. If they can do it, I’m sure I can start again!

First things first though. I need to give my thyroid what it needs — iodine. And I need to support my thyroid and adrenal glands with proper nutrition: glands, vitamin C, amino acids, B complex, etc.

When I correct my hormone imbalance, only then will my milk production increase.

Also, I need to continue to detox these heavy metals out of my body before I start again. I’m going to talk to Dr. Flechas when I have my consultation, see what he thinks, see how long it will take to detox. I’m doing the heavy metal test this week to see what I need to detox– so I should know something by next week.

I’m also going to order the Lact-Aid. This is a wonderful tool that helps you stimulate milk flow while supplementing your baby (with stored breast milk or formula). Of course I will also pump but I think the Lact-Aid will help us tremendously.

I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally be able to finally make sense of this conundrum. Yes, it’s still a theory. Doctors are not aware of this. Nor are lactation consultants. But if this theory works, that’s pretty exciting, don’t you think? And don’t you think the doctors and lactation consultants should be aware of this? Think of how many women could be helped. And how many babies would not need to go on commercial formula.

I will keep you posted…