Tamara from nearby (in Texas) wrote:
I have mostly working moms in my LLL group (evening), and a very common
occurrence is a decrease in milk supply after being back at work for a
month or so. Do you suppose that the lack of non-nutritive sucking (during
the day when mom is gone) could be a factor in this decrease. If so, what
steps could be taken to ensure that this does not happen? I have seen this
happen in moms that pump frequently at work but for shorter periods of
time, as well as in moms that pump less frequently but for a longer time.
Moms that are pumping tons when they go back to work are affected as well.
What do you think?

I would bet that what is going on is that many of these mothers are
breastfeeding on a 3 or 4 hour schedule from birth, encouraging baby to
sleep through the night, and not really getting an adequate milk supply
going.  It *seems* adequate in the first few months, but isn't really
adequate for the long haul.  When control of milk production switches from
being primarily endocrine to primarily autocrine at about 3-4 months
postpartum, the milk supply drops.  This would coincide with "a month or so
after going back to work" after a 6 week maternity leave.  You can search
the LactNet archives for a discussion of autocrine/endocrine control, or
email me privately and I'll send you my summary of these discussions.  I
*suspect* that a mother who was nursing on cue every hour or so, and nursing
a lot at night for the first six weeks, and then continuing to nurse on cue
when at home and during the night after returning to work, would NOT see any
significant drop in her milk supply when milk production switches over to
primarily autocrine control.  I don't think it's the lack of non-nutritive
sucking, which I don't believe exists anyway (babies always get milk, and
regular sucking is not just for "nutritive" purposes anyway).  But don't get
me started on that topic . . . .   ;)


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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email: [log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html