Written by Pamela Lim,  https://joyfulparenting.sg

If you're like many new moms, you might be worried about having enough breast milk for your baby even after the first few weeks. While this is a common fear, there are only a small number of mothers who are truly not able to make enough breast milk. If your supply of breast milk is low, it can usually be increased naturally by taking a few easy steps. 

There are several things that you can do to build and maintain a healthy breast milk supply.

Confirming your breastfeeding technique and breastfeeding more often are the two most important factors necessary to establish and maintain a healthy supply of breast milk.

Low milk supply is usually a temporary situation that will improve with appropriate breastfeeding support and management. Making more milk is all about supply and demand, and the more milk is removed from the breast, the more milk is made. The less milk removed, the less is made.

Breastfeeding and making breast milk requires a good amount of energy. So, it's a good idea to try to eat a little better while you're breastfeeding. First of all, to build up a healthy milk supply, fuel your body with well-balanced meals and healthy snacks. Add some natural milk-boosting foods such as oatmeal, dark green veggies, and almonds to your daily diet to help you get those much needed extra calories. 

It's hard to imagine taking any moments in the day for yourself as a breastfeeding mom but it's actually very easy to fit healthy eating into the picture.

Here are some ideas:

For breakfast, add some berries to your cereal or toss some dried fruit and granola into yogurt. Whether in the form of a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal, a trendy oat milk latte or an oat-filled lactation cookie, breastfeeding moms have long relied on oats to help them make more milk. 

While breastfeeding, it is essential that you eat plenty of protein, healthy fats, and colourful veggies. Dark leafy green vegetables such as alfalfa, lettuce, kale, spinach, and broccoli are full of nutrients, especially calcium. They also contain phytoestrogens that may have a positive effect on breast milk production. Always have cut-up vegetables ready in the refrigerator. You can either eat them raw or dip them into a salad dressing. You might find some supermarkets sell an array of pre-cut veggies. The best part is that you can munch on these snacks all day or prepare a salad quickly.

Don’t be afraid to eat plenty of healthy fats while breastfeeding. You can have a lunch combination of multiple sources of healthy fats like avocado, cheddar cheese, and eggs in a form of omelette and throw in some greens for an extra nutrition boost!

Keep some hard-boiled eggs in the fridge. You can grab one quickly for a good protein punch.

A slow-cooker nourishing bone broth recipe that is packed with amino acids, collagen, and minerals, is superb for your body needs to heal post-delivery. 

Super-foods like fennel seeds add flavour to many different foods, but fennel is also a vegetable that can be cooked or eaten raw. The bulb, stalk, and leaves of the fennel plant are edible, and you can add them to soups, stews, or other fennel recipes. The plant oestrogens found in fennel may help nursing mothers make more breast milk.

Garlic is very nutritious, and it's a healthy addition to most diets. It is also believed to be a galactagogue, helping nursing mothers make more breast milk. Even though garlic has a strong odour that does go into breast milk, it seems that some infants like the taste. Studies show that garlic-flavoured milk may help keep breastfed babies nursing longer. On the other hand, some children may not tolerate garlic very well. If your child shows signs of a food sensitivity after you eat garlic, you may want to try to avoid the garlic for a while.

Sesame seeds are high in calcium and oestrogen-like plant properties and breastfeeding mothers use sesame seeds to make more breast milk. You can eat sesame seeds alone, as an ingredient in the recipes you prepare, as a topping for salads, or in a trail mix combined with other seeds, nuts, and dried fruit.

Almond nuts, especially raw almonds are healthy and full of protein and calcium. Many nursing mothers choose to eat almonds or drink almond milk to increase the creaminess, sweetness, and amount of their breast milk. You may want to try adding some raw almonds into your overnight oats or cook them in your oatmeal porridge. Add some raw honey for that extra sweetness!

Brewer's yeast is a very healthy nutritional supplement that contains B vitamins, iron, protein, chromium, selenium, and other minerals. Breastfeeding mothers use it to not only can it help you to make more breast milk, but it may also give you more energy, have a positive effect on your mood, and get rid of the baby blues. You can find brewer's yeast in tablet or powder form.

Lactation teas are made from foods and herbs, and they're one of the most common choices for women who wish to boost their milk supply. Nursing tea may contain a single herb or a combination of herbs that work together to support lactation and increase breast milk production. The herbs found in breastfeeding tea include fenugreek, blessed thistle, milk thistle  and fennel. Besides increasing the supply of breast milk, these natural and non-caffeinated teas are also comforting and relaxing. Plus, they're easy to prepare and you can drink this nursing tea up to 3 times per day.

Eating fresh versions of these foods that support lactation is safe and even healthy. Just like everything else, don't overdo it. Too much of anything is never a good idea. You should also keep in mind that supplements are not the same as fresh foods. Before taking any supplement versions of these milk boosting foods, talk to a breastfeeding-friendly doctor or a certified lactation consultant.