Table 5.

Perceived effectiveness and safety: fenugreek and blessed thistle combination products.

Participants	Perceived Effectiveness by User	Adverse Effects Observed
BW 2	Effective (in maintaining milk supply, not really increasing)	None observed
	Onset of effect: 1 day
	Indicators: Breast engorgement, infant’s perceived satisfaction
	“You could really tell when your breasts are full. Before I kind of always felt, not deflated but you know, if she were longer than usual between feed I wouldn’t really notice it, but then after being on fenugreek, if she went long than say 2 or 2.5 h between feed, it was very obvious, my breast will look very engorged and it will start leaking, which has never happened before.”
BW 7	Effective	Sweet-smelling body odour and in urine
	Onset of effect: 2 h
	Indicators: Breast engorgement, infant’s perceived satisfaction and feeding behaviour, shorter feeding session
	“I can see more effective sucking and slurping. After taking fenugreek, it was like suck, swallow, suck, swallow, so she was getting more. It was like proper sucking rather than just getting a bit of milk then just suck for the rest of it. Before that, she would only have proper feed for 10 min then just sucking afterwards, not really swallowing. But after fenugreek, it was like 20 min of constant feeding and swallowing… she seems sort of happier and fuller after feeding. She just appeared to be getting lots of milk and I feel good about that. She appeared more settled.”
BW 11	Unable to Judge	None observed
	Onset of effect: 1–2 days
	Indicators: Breast engorgement, infant’s perceived satisfaction and feeding behavior
	“So sometimes the little one will wake up constantly all night just wanting more milk and in the morning still wants more, but whereas from drinking the tea, I kind of feeling my breasts was filled up quicker.”