because short answer: it is not true 100% of the time!!! it is so much more complicated than what was originally thought.
FOREMILK = the first milk that is expressed during a feed or pump session
HINDMILK = the last milk during a feed or pump session
NOW, the assumption that has been made and passed around for a long time is that foremilk is lower in fat vs hindmilk is higher in fat. this is true SOME of the time. this assumption of foremilk is low in fat and hindmilk is high in fat is not accurate 100% of the time, and why we need to reframe our thought process around foremilk and hindmilk!!!
THE ONE SINGLE EXPERIMENT
the origins of this assumption is freaking WILD to me, and it’s my Roman Empire if i’m being completely honest. this entire assumption has stemmed from one single pumping session. and freaking get this — the “pump” that was used was not even a real breast pump, in fact, it was a lung aspirator modified to pump milk. here’s what happened:
- one single mother during one single pump session, she pumped for a few minutes
- then took away her milk that was expressed to test
- continued doing this throughout one single “pump” session
- it was concluded that the milk at the end of the pump session contained more fat than at the beginning
was it true that the foremilk contained more water content at the beginning of this milk expression and the hindmilk had more fat? YES. but here’s the real truth that i want you to remember —
THE FOREMILK/HINDMILK TRUTH
your milk is constantly changing — as baby gets older, depending on the time of the day that you are expressing your milk, and how effective your pump session (or nursing session) is to remove milk from breasts.
“so Bethany, how do i increase my milk content? what can i eat?”
contrary to what the internet has told you, the biggest impact on how much fat content in your milk does not come from your diet or what you eat. your milk is a product of your blood, not your stomach (like so freaking cool, right?!).
fat is important to your baby, absolutely. but that isn’t the most important component — we’re forgetting about water content to hydrate, immune supportive and microflora pieces to the breast milk puzzle that are so incredibly powerful! so when you think about increasing fat, please keep in the back of your mind that it is only one piece of a massively beautiful whole nourishing meal for your baby!!!
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR FAT CONTENT
so you’re looking to increase the fat content in your milk? the most impactful way to do this is to increase your pump session effectiveness. how fast your pump is able to remove milk, will increase the fat transfer into your milk! this is exactly the same for nursing sessions — the more practice and effective your baby is at nursing, the faster they will remove the milk necessary, and therefore increase the amount of fat they receive.
need all the details on how to do this via pumping and make your pump sessions as effective as possible? also for your sanity, because who wants to be tied up to a pump more minutes than necessary during the day?? (HINT: not me 👀)
ANSWER: the basics to successful pumping course. i literally created this course to help you pump more effectively, to give you a foundation of how to pump when this is barely freaking talked about in the lactation world. THIS is your roadmap to a more stress-free pumping experience — i’ll even give ya a little 10% discount when you enroll here👇🏽
ENROLL IN THE “BASICS TO SUCCESSFUL PUMPING” COURSE HERE
related blog posts that i think you’ll seriously love —
have you heard that foremilk is lower in fat? how does this change what you’ve been taught or heard to believe about breast milk fat content?
xoxo, Bethany | Certified Lactation Counselor | Your Overproducing Exclusively Pumping Mama
