This is so interesting.
Kim and Kanye recently welcomed their third child. Their healthy baby girl was born through a surrogate. Days before the little girl was born, Kim showed off some of the things she got for the baby, including a breastfeeding pillow.
The reality star was unboxing a few of the gifts she had been sent and shared a clip of some of the pillows that she’d received.
“I literally get multiple of these, since you don’t know what room you’re going to feed in, you need them all over the house,” she said. “It’s everything.”
As she didn’t have the baby herself, this left a lot of people very confused. But, according to the experts, it’s still possible for Kim to successfully breastfeed her new baby, even though she didn’t carry her.
It’s called ‘induced lactation’ and it can happen naturally, or with the aid of medication. The practice dates back to the 19th and 20th centuries when ‘wet nurses’ were used to help breastfeed children. Women can still produce milk up to 2 years after they have stopped breastfeeding another baby.
Seeing as Kim’s second child, Saint, was born in 2015, and she’s previously said she did breastfeed him, then she still has the potential to be able to do it for her new baby.
Lactation counselor, Molly Petersen, told The Daily Mail that she can try to breastfeed her child by simply introducing her breast to her new baby to encourage the lactation.
She said, “Some moms can establish their supply without the use of any medical intervention. Simply putting baby to the breast can induce lactation.”
If the natural way doesn’t work, then a combination of medicine can be taken to help produce the three hormones needed to encourage lactation – estrogen, progesterone and human placental lactogen.
If a mother wishes to breastfeed her child through induced lactation, experts advise to begin before the baby arrives. A breast pump can be used to work in a routine of a regular milk supply so that when the baby arrives it won’t be as difficult.
