Does beer really increase milk supply?

It's the day after St. Patrick's Day and it just occurred to me that it would be a great time to investigate the age-old advice to down a Guinness to increase milk production. 

Here's what Dr. Thomas Hale says in the must-have guide to medications and breastfeeding, Medications and Mothers' Milk:

Beer, but not ethanol, has been reported in a number of studies to stimulate prolactin levels and breastmilk production.  Thus is it presumed that the polysaccharide from barley may be the prolactin-stimulating component of beer.  Non-alcoholic beer is equally effective.

Dr. Hale also cites two studies which suggest that, in the immediate period after mothers consume alcohol, milk production declines significantly and babies take in less milk. 

So it appears that barley, a traditional food for increasing milk supply, makes beer effective at increasing prolactin levels, but that the alcohol in it causes babies to take in less milk. 

Of course, drinking alcohol while breastfeeding can pose risks for your baby if it's not consumed in moderation.  And beer, non-alcoholic or not, would not be the at the top of the list of recommendations for increasing milk supply. 

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Comments

[Rattling the Kettle]

Might not be at the top of the recommended methods list, but right at the top of "tastiest" methods (perhaps tied with Indian food made with extra fenugreek?).

[Kat]

I have often wondered myself what the mechanics were to increasing milk supply re: beer. I beleive it's the ingredient hops that is thought to do it, but I have often wondered if a stressed breastfeeding mother might not see an increase in supply after having a beer merely because she is more relaxed. Especially in the earlier weeks when breastfeeding may not come easy and causes stress. What are your thoughts?

[Maria]

Kat-- the stress thing could easily be believable, but would be hard to control in a study. They could probably compare with other relaxation methods, but the results would still be hard to interpret (IMO).

[Layla]

My mother was told by the nuns in the hospital that she gave birth in, that beer would increase her supply and help with let-down, etc.

I wasn't really in the mood for a cold one following the birth of my baby, but I've known of a lot of moms who will occasionally have a glass of wine or a beer, every so often--I even had a wine spritzer on my anniversary--but as a rule, I just steer clear from alcohol as a breast feeding mom.

As an aside, though--my midwives are strong advocates of a homeopathic stress relieving product called Rescue Remedy.
It contains alcohol, among other natural essences, and they recommend it for moms, babies, or whomever! (I was even told it is given to stressed out elephants in zoos!)

A stressed out new mom might consider this wonder product, as opposed to beer, if she feels the need to relax and de-stress.

[onetinkerbell]

I don't know about helping with milk production, but a colleague of my husband's who is a Physician Assistant once told me that giving a woman a pint of Guinness was a traditional way of helping post-partum healing. I can't remember the reasons he gave but I remember thinking that what he was telling me made perfect sense. Maybe the prolactin increase helps with uterine contractions?

[tanya@motherwearblog]

Kat,

You're pushing the limits of my beer knowledge here! :)

As I understand it, barley can be used to make the malt that goes in beer. Barley, actually barley water, is a traditional galactagogue, and is thought to increase prolactin levels.

So, if it's the alcohol in beer that helps a mother relax, why would non-alcoholic beer work just as well?

I think that it's the barley, not the alcohol. If anything, alcohol seems to reduce supply temporarily.

The other thing I've heard is that beer helps a mother let down milk. Let down is triggered by oxytocin, not prolactin, and it appears that alcohol actually inhibits let down.

I think I've exhausted my understanding of this topic now!

Tanya

[Sheryl]

I have heard the same thing about beer relaxing a stressed out mother enough to help breastfeeding along.

[Mary]

Some of the confusion with respect to beer and milk supply might come from an old name for a style of beer - milk stout. There's not a large leap from thinking that milk stouts (hearty brews that they are!) must be tonics for good health and good for milk supply.

Milk stouts however do not contain milk - but they do contain lactose. You won't see the term milk stouts around much (modern truth-in-labelling laws in some countries have seen to that). Given that the average person does not know the fine distinctions between different beer types (eg the whole range of stouts, porters and even dark ales), it's not surprising that any values ascribed to milk stouts might migrate across to other beer types and well-known brands such as Guinness.