Three liters of water a day is quite a lot. Forcing fluids has long
been known to decrease milk supply.
_Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession_ has a section on
page 305 (1999 edition) regarding how a mother's water intake affects
milk supply. I'll quote --
"Forcing fluids . . . has been shown by Dusdieker et al. to affect
milk production negatively in a controlled crossover-design study of
breastfeeding mothers. Thus women taking excessive fluids produced
less milk, suggesting that drinking to thirst and heeding body cues
is more physiologic than prescribing a specific amount of fluid per
day. This observation was first demonstrated in a 1939 study by
Olsen, who concluded, 'Forced, excessive drinking is therefore
neither necessary nor beneficial as far as the nursing is concerned
and may even be harmful.' He had studied great variations in
quantity of fluids taken and also noted that 'hypogalactia cannot be
arrested by forced drinking beyond the natural dictates of thirst.'
Urine output in these studies was proportional to intake.
Illingworth and Kilpatrick did a similar study in 210 postpartum
mothers, half of whom drank ad lib, taking an average of 69 oz daily;
the other half were forced to take 6 pints [96 oz] and averaged 107
oz daily. The mothers forced to drink beyond thirst produced less
milk, and their babies gained less well."
Citations
Dusdieker LB, Booth BM, Stumbo PJ et al: Effect of supplemental
fluids on human milk production, J Pediatr 106:207, 1985.
Olsen A: Nursing under conditions of thirst or excessive ingestion
of fluids, Acta Obstet Gynaecol Scand 20:313, 1940.
Illingworth RS, Kilpatrick B: Lactation and fluid intake, Lancet 2:1175, 1953.
Warmly,
Margaret
Longmont, CO
>Mom of just turned one yr old recently (last couple of weeks) started a raw
>food diet. Mom has a history of a precarious milk supply and began working
<snip>
> Mom is also consuming appx 3 L of water daily.
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