Insufficient Glandular Tissue (IGT)

Hi ladies

I tried to do a search on the topic but nothing came up.


Im pretty sure I have IGT after doing some reading/research. Does anyone else have this? Was there anything that you could do to help it?

I'm seeing my LC in a couple of days and will be discussing it with her and working out some things to do. I have read that some herbal remedies can help increase glandular tissue, thus helping in milk production, has anyone heard/tried this?

just looking for some hope :p this is my third pregnancy and I've only just heard of it recently so really hoping that I might be able to breastfeed this time, because the last 2 times I had pretty much zero milk supply and both babies lost alot of weight in the first week so had to formula feed becuase nothing was getting my supply up and my LC didnt understand why at the time.

Hopefully barb will come in and offer some advice for you!
I donated breastmilk for a lovely friend here on belly belly, do you have anyone that could help you out?.

That's the likely culprit for my issues, I have not been able to achieve a normal supply for my girls either. (Especially DD1 didn't even gain 200g by 3 weeks and was getting dehydrated etc) I did notice a little development with my second pregnancy and my supply was improved but still only about 50-75% of a supply, herbs, accupuncutre and motillium did not work for me. Goats rue is the main herb celebrated for insufficient development if that is the case, but there are others. There is a fantastic book called Making More Milk written by Lactation Consultants who have experienced and made a study of women with true insufficient supplies and has fantastic advice and suggestions for various methods you can try. I mixed fed my girls (Formula Comped) until DD1 refused breast at 7 months, and dd2 Refused bottle at 8 months and was just a booby girl till recently when she decided she'd take one again which i never thought I'd be pleased about but I really am.

If the LC you see doesn't seem helpful, it can be a good idea to find one who will take what you are saying seriously and see if they can come up with a proper approach for you or at least see if they agree with what you think may be the issue (in my experience every LC I met IRL glossed over the issue with the supply=demand just feed more speech that made crap wad of a difference to my stupid boobs and non-thriving babies, so you may want to go private if you go down that road). I'm sorry my story wasn't a 100% success for you, but I highly recommend the book, it has some great success stories in it, and in the end, helped me to come to terms with what I CAN do and keep that up. All the best, I'm hoping things are easier for you this time around :)

I had never heard about it until I donated expressed breastmilk to a lady that had the same problem.

I very much hope that the LC can help you because breastfeeding can be tough under the best of circumstances without adding physical problems to it. I wish you all the best of luck!

Hi,

Insufficient glandular tissue is rre - doesn't mean you couldn't have it. However, often the usual poor management of early breastfeeding can cause problems and only taking a careful history of you and your baby and the circumstances around the birth will shed light on the subject. It is normal for babies to lose around 10% of their birthweight in the first week, and it doesn't mean they need to have formula. How did the birth go? Were babies full term? Separated from you? (you don't have to answer, but you could if you wanted - or pm me or talk to your LC about it) What do your breasts look like? Sometimes there is nothing that can be seen on the outside, but sometimes there is a "look" that can give a hint. (once again you don't have to answer on a public forum!)
Most women who have insuffiecient glandular tissue are able to partially breastfeed as sas85 has outlined. The art is in maximising your supply and supplementing appropriately. Remember too, breastfeeding is not all about the milk. Many mothers, including adoptive mothers breastfeed their baby via a supply line without ever producing much milk and have a full and satisfying breastfeeding relationship.