I have noticed the same thing about BMI/stature and milk production,
Nikki (and whoever started this thread).
One particular mom that stands out in my mind as an example of this
weighed 105 and her breasts were what she liked to call "A+". When she
was pumping (she pumped 12 months each for 2 children) she pumped
GALLONS of milk with little to no effort. She had to put 9 ounce Gerber
bottles on her PIS because she became annoyed with repeatedly
overflowing the little Medela bottles.
This mom would regularly fill both 9 oz bottles to the rim in about 5
minutes of pumping. Neither of her babies ever had a problem with
oversupply, though, they never guzzled or choked, and while they gained
fine, they were unremarkable in their weight gain. Even more
interesting (to me at least) is that prepregnancy her breasts were
bigger than DD.
I discussed this with Peter Hartmann while at dinner one night at the
ABM meeting and he said he had heard this kind of story before. After
we talked about it some more, he pointed out how interesting it was that
this mom's first baby was a "24/7" nurser from day one, which would go
with low storage capacity, and this was when mom's breasts were still
relatively large, but by the time her second baby came along and she was
already an "A+", that baby went long stretches between feeds from the
very beginning (always feeding on cue, etc.), which is consistent with
higher storage capacity. Though entirely anecdotal and N=1, this is an
interesting demonstration of the lack of relationship between breast
size and storage capacity.
Katherine Shealy, MPH, IBCLC, RLC
----------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 07:18:59 EST
From: Nikki Lee <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: wondering
In a message dated 2/20/2004 4:52:13 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes: "In addition, prolactin levels are
influenced by body condition, with thinner women having more prolactin
secreted in response to suckling (Lunn et al 1984; Kjolhede 2003) as
well as higher basal prolactin levels, than fatter women (Kopelman
2000). Dear Friends:
In my private practice, the women with oversupply are frequently
petite women, with small breasts. I wonder if this is the physiology
behind that....
warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University Film
Editor, Journal of Human Lactation Support the WHO Code and the
Mother-Friendly Childbirth
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