Goat's Rue for Insufficient Glandular Tissue? WHILE PREGNANT???

[rainbowfairymomma]

Hi mama's
I'm so glad this new board is here! :
I honestly don't have the energy to type of my history of breastfeeding but I am pretty sure with lots of research that I have hypoplastic breasts.

I have been reading about this Goats Rue herb. I am currently 35 weeks pregnant and wondering if I could take this now? Is there anyone who has taken it while pregnant? Anything I can do now (I know I probably shouldn't have waited so long but I was begining to think there were no answers to my last 2 failed breastfeeding relationships ie. no reason as to WHY I wasn't making enough milk...)

THANKS MAMA'S

[boheime]

I have searched for this information and have not found anything about its safety during pregnancy. Based on that (unless someone else knows of research saying it is safe), I would say have it on hand and start taking it as soon as possible after birth. Do you plan to use an SNS or Lact-Aid? I highly recommend it. That way you can still have the nursing relationship and baby can be getting as much milk as possible even if you don't have a full supply.

[twinsarefun]

Everything I have read says to not take goat's rue while pregnant. Motherlove and other brands all say the same on the bottle. The same goes for blessed thistle and fenugreek. A LL told me the same thing. I wish you well with your new little one!

[rainbowfairymomma]

thanks mama's I was pretty sure that would be the case and of course I'd rather be safe them sorry.
I guess I'll just stock up now and start ASAP after the birth.

[Panserbjorne]

Blessed thistle is fine during pregnancy-fenugreek and goat's rue is not.

[cutic]

I even heard that you are not supposed to touch the plant with your hands while pregnant, I read about it somewhere but don't remember where.

[Nora'sMama]

RFM,

I don't know anything about Goat's Rue, but there is a medication called Metformin that has been shown to help with breast development and then milk supply in women with PCOS.

Here is an article about it from LLL's website. A short excerpt:

"One of the most promising potential therapies is the use of metformin. Trial cases have shown improvement when severe hypoplasia was not present (Gabbay 2002). Two studies recently examined the passage of metformin into human milk and concluded that it represented an insignificant risk to the infant, paving the way for mothers who desire to try this option (Hale et al. 2002; Gardiner et al. 2003). Some health care professionals are trying galactagogues in conjunction with metformin for the best possible effect, depending upon the individual situation."

Here is a blog entry that talks about some of these issues. (Scroll up to where it says "Now: Tits" .) The comments are very informative and hypoplastic breasts are mentioned at least once.

I know that hypoplastic breasts (IGT) and PCOS are not the same thing but IIRC they are frequently found together and it would seem that the things to try for insufficient breast growth during pregnancy and resulting low supply would be the same no matter what the particular cause of the insufficient breast growth.

HTH.