Every new mother looks forward to breastfeeding her newborn. It is one milestone she plans for even before the baby is born. While some may be successful in their endeavors, a lot many of us are unable to breastfeed at all or do not get to do so for the number of days that we had initially planned for. There are many reasons why women generally give up on breastfeeding earlier than they’d planned.

Poor latching techniques, breasts engorgement, swelling of the breasts, etc, are a few of them. While you may get to learn latching techniques on the job, you are at a loss when it comes to dealing with breasts engorgement and swelling. You may use breast softening creams and gels, but you’ll end up wiping them off even before they start working, to feed your baby (which happens frequently, though). 

And the use of painkiller medications and antibiotics is a strict no-no during breastfeeding unless prescribed by your doctor in extreme cases. So, what really is the solution to this universal problem? Well, it’s right there inside your kitchen – cabbage leaves. Yes, you’ve read that right. Many women across the globe use this natural and effective method to help reduce the swelling in their breasts. In fact, a recent study also confirms the positive effects of cold cabbage leaves in alleviating breast engorgement, pain, and breasts swelling . According to the study that was conducted on lactating mothers in the age group of 13 to 50 years, use of cabbage leaves on breasts not only helped in reducing the pain and hardness, it also increased the duration of breastfeeding due to fast pain relief, which is within 20 minutes!