Nutrition experts have debunked the long-held Nigerian cultural belief that consuming pap (also known as ogi or akamu) or palm wine boosts breast milk production in nursing mothers, urging women to instead rely on proper hydration and frequent breastfeeding to increase their milk supply
Across many Nigerian communities, mothers and mothers-in-law have for generations recommended pap and palm wine to newly delivered women struggling with milk production, part of a broader belief that fluid intake directly determines the amount of breast milk a mother produces. Some entrepreneurs have gone as far as marketing specially branded “lactation pap,” adding spices and flavours with claims that it works as a “milk booster” and even affects the taste of breast milk to encourage babies to feed more.
Nutritionists say there is no scientific evidence to support the claim. According to professors of nutrition, staying properly hydrated by drinking water is important for nursing mothers, but frequent breastfeeding or latching not fluid intake is the real key to increasing milk supply.
This aligns with earlier findings from other Nigerian health experts. Physician Dr Agnes Nwoke, who works with St. Charles Clinic in Urum, explained that breast milk production follows the law of demand and supply rather than the type or amount of fluid consumed. “It is not the amount of fluid taken via pap or palm wine, it is the intensity of suckling and time of suckling that help the nursing mother to produce more milk. The more the breast is emptied, the more it produces or flows with milk,” she said.
Consultant nutritionist Dr Chika Ndiokwelu has similarly noted that breastfeeding obeys the law of demand and supply, adding that failing to put a newborn to the breast immediately after delivery can affect lactation. “The more a baby suckles the breast, the more the breast milk flows,” she said.
Health experts have also specifically pushed back on claims around palm wine. Professor of Paediatric Nutrition, Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Calabar, Emmanuel Ekanem, and former head of Nutrition Services with the Ondo State Government, James Oloyede, have both described the claim that palm wine enhances breastmilk flow as spurious, noting there is no human study backing the widespread cultural practice.
Beyond the lack of evidence for its benefits, experts have warned that palm wine, as an alcoholic beverage, poses genuine risks to breastfeeding infants. Child and public health physician Rotimi Adesanya has explained that alcohol passing into breast milk can have a sedative effect on babies, potentially disrupting their sleep patterns and making them agitated. Alcohol also inhibits a mother’s milk let-down reflex studies cited by Adesanya show that babies take around 20 per cent less milk when alcohol is present in breast milk, meaning they need to feed more often. In some cases, infants have gone on what is described as a “nursing strike” due to the altered taste of alcohol in the milk.
Oloyede advised that rather than consuming alcohol at all, nursing mothers experiencing issues with milk flow should drink water or pap to stay hydrated, noting, however, that pap itself does not directly improve milk flow. “It should be noted that pap in itself does not improve the flow, but it helps because it’s essentially water, and for psychological effects in communities where it has formed part of the culture,” he said.
Only one study, a 2019 investigation into the effect of palm wine on the mammary glands of postpartum rats published on the research platform ResearchGate, suggested that fresh palm wine increased milk quantity in the animals tested but experts note this has not been replicated or confirmed in human studies.
Rather than turning to pap or palm wine, health professionals recommend that mothers focus on well-established strategies for maintaining a healthy milk supply. These include drinking plenty of water throughout pregnancy and lactation, breastfeeding within the first hour of delivery, ensuring frequent and effective suckling until milk flow is established, and avoiding giving babies water, other fluids or infant formula in the first six months of life, since breast milk alone meets all of an infant’s nutritional and hydration needs during that period.
Experts also advise that mothers experiencing difficulties with milk flow should seek one-on-one, skilled breastfeeding counselling from a trained health worker, nutritionist or breastfeeding counsellor, rather than relying on unproven home remedies.
