I have low milk supply as a result of breast reduction surgery, and against all odds and expectations, I am still managing to produce approximately half the milk needed by my 5 week old baby. I know exactly how much he is taking from me because we are weighing him on a borrowed set of baby scales before and after each side, and recording the amount of the EBM or formula top-ups. With the support and guidance of a Lactation Consultant and his Paediatrician, I am already feeding three-hourly, double-pumping after feeds, using massage and breast compression, on the maximum dose of motilium, etc, etc. Our feeding routine has been relatively unchanged in the last week.

I have finally managed to buy the ingredients for Lactation Cookies, as per this recipe, and have made up a batch today, with 4Tbs brewer's yeast. By comparing my milk production in the week prior to eating the cookies with the week after starting to eat the cookies, I will find out for sure if the cookies work for me, and therefore, if it's worth the effort (and extra calories) of making and eating them.

Can anyone tell me how many I'm meant to be eating to be effective? Two a day? One every feed? Three every feed? The recipe made about 55 cookies, and I have already eaten enough raw dough to make another 5 or so. Can anyone give me any other advice re the cookies? I know it's meant to be more effective if you eat it raw, but I have a limited tolerance for raw dough - I wouldn't want to eat it raw ore than once a day.

In case anyone is interested in the figures, my average milk production has been 364 ml/day over the last 7 days. The range has been from 647 ml to 848 ml. I get this number from weighing him immediately before and after he feeds from each side to calculate how much he takes direct from the breast, and weighing the milk I pump after the feed, and adding the figures together over 24 hours. I'll keep up the weighing routine for the next week and see if the average increases. I reckon it would have to increase by at least 30 ml to be statistically significant, but I'd want to see a bigger increase than that to justify continuing to make and eat them. Does that sound about right?