Cindy, I would say the mothers supply is low and probably needs to be "built up" with frequent breastfeeding and possibly a herbal galactagogue, depending on what is availabe in your part of the world. There are several issues going on here and this is how I interpret your case: The baby was probably supplemented in the women's unit because the mother or grandmother requested it. No because of any proven problems with lactation, at that stage. Myths abound in Asia regarding colostrum being "bad" and some mothers I have worked with will not even put the baby to the breast until the milk "comes in". This initial lack of breastfeeding can obviously impact badly on milk production. The mother is probably going to have to supplement after breastfeeds and slowly wean down the formula as her milk supply improves and she gains confidence. If you can get her to cupfeed or syringe feed instead of the bottle all the better. Remember this mother is not only being asked to learn a new skill but also adopt a different cultural context regarding birthing mothering and breastfeeding. If she has to deal with a crying baby between feeds it will further reinforce the superiority of formula that she may already perceive. One really needs to teach her the basics of breastfeeding. She is going to need a lot of support. Don't overload her with changes, she needs time to adapt and asimilate. The father needs a rap on the knuckles and a bit of a wake up call. He needs to realise that when you marry someone you marry their culture as well. It is absolutely normal in this womens culture for her mother to be there feeding special foods, it is part of the birthing tradition in this country. He needs to find common ground with mother-in-law and make things work. Apart from anything else if he does not attempt to get things on an even keel my guess is that this attempt at breastfeeding will fail. All the adrenaline in the womens system (she probably needs and wants her mother there) can only block the oxytocin. Not good for breastfeeding. She may not be voicing her feelings to him because culturally she would feel the need to defer to her husband too. In Jakarta I use the big star anise which I infuse for 15min and mix it with ginger tea, as a galactagogue. If you are unable to get fennel tea or fenugreek capsules, this seems to work well. The one hospital I worked in we had a very large multicultural population birthing there. I would sometimes walk into the unit and as I walked past one of the rooms, would smell the food and know that we had a new Korean or Vietnamese women on the floor. The families brought in food, special foods are part of their birthing culture. Kind Regards Mandy O'Reilly RN/RM IBCLC *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html