~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nikki Lee wrote:
    I remember someone, was it Elizabeth Horrmann, saying that adoptive
mothers in other countries don't have trouble making milk but in the US,
adoptive
moms are told that they probably won't make a full supply...........so they
don't.

Hi Nikki:
It's not so much a case of "other countries" as living in a breastfeeding
culture.  A breastfeeding culture can exist (even in Western countries)
within families or peer groups, e.g. in LLL or ABA or other groups.  You
might like to look at my case series of Anglo-Celtic Australian mothers who
relactated for children over 12 months, most of them a lot more than 12
months old.  (It was published under my previous surname, Phillips.) Some of
the cases dated back to a period when breastfeeding, and certainly
breastfeeding older babies, wasn't fashionable.  The mothers came from
breastfeeding-supportive backgrounds.  The reference is:

Phillips V. Relactation in mothers of children over 12 months. J Trop
Pediatr 1993;39:45-48.

Interestingly, the mothers didn't need motivation - just the mouth action of
a very insistent child, even though *some* of them were reluctant for the
weaned child to resume.  Their bodies responded to the stimulation, and they
accepted the inevitable.  Another such case, that I inadvertantly left out
of this paper, was included in a later article of mine:

Thorley V. Relactation: what the exceptions can tell us. Birth Issues
1997;6(1):24-29.

These cases are only the tip of the iceberg in breastfeeding circles, with
mothers going in and out of lactation according to changing needs of the
child.  I just haven't taken the time to collect further cases in the last
few years because of other research commitments.  My current reading
suggests strongly to me that the other factor that makes relactation slow in
some situations is bottle use - before and during relactation.  A cultural
dependence on bottle use can be very strong.

On a personal note:  the first time I relactated, I had *no doubts* at all
that i would be able to do so, after reading and rereading the reprint of an
article LLL's Marian Tompson sent me, about Lorraine Bormet and her
relactation experience.  My then husband supported the idea.  Everyone else
had told me that I was physically unable to breastfeed - while in fact my
lactation failure was iatrogenic, after consistently deleterious advice.
Through all this I *knew* I could relactate, and did as soon as my copy of
the LLL manual arrived from the US.  So, Nikki, the power of the mind did
help, mainly because I wasn't hampered by doubt.

Cheers

Virginia Thorley, OAM, DipEd, MA, IBCLC
Lactation Consultant (cohort of 1985).
Cultural Historian working in the History of Medicine.
PhD candidate (thesis submitted), University of Queensland.
Australia
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