Hello, Wise Women:

I have a situation that is completely baffling.? This will hopefully appeal to the "detective" in you, and perhaps you can offer suggestions that we haven't thought of.....

- First-time mom (baby is 10 days old), textbook pregnancy, natural childbirth - no medications or interventions.? 
- Slight breast/areola changes during pregnancy, none postpartum. 
- No history of anything that would predispose her to not making milk.? No thyroid issues, no breast surgery or injury, no PCOS, no breast asymmetry.....
- She had one miscarriage prior to this baby, and used a Chinese herbalist to help her with this pregnancy.? 
- According to her midwife, her placenta came out smoothly and intact.? 
- She passed a grapefruit sized clot on day two, but had no unusual bleeding before or after the clot, and no additional clots have been passed since.
- The baby went to the breast immediately after birth and fed often for the first 48 hours when they called us because she had lost more than 10% of her birth weight.
- The midwife commented to me that she was surprised after the birth because she usually helps the mom squeeze out a little colostrom for the baby at the first feeding, and not a drop came out.? She commented on the fact that this woman has "dense" breasts.? I noticed slight veining, but not prominent.
- HCG, hemoglobin and thyroid levels have all been checked - all are normal, and her uterus is firm (checked by midwife yesterday).
- The baby had a somewhat rapid descent through the birth canal, and is a little asymmetrical, but latches on and sucks - the asymmetry is not dramatic enough to cause this situation, in my estimation.

This mom has produced NO milk - not a drop, not even a whisper.? She has been putting the baby to the breast and pumping with a hospital grade pump religiously since day one - it is now day 10. She is taking herbs and doing almost constant skin-to-skin.? This mom desperately wants to breastfeed, and at this point has consulted us, her birth doula, her primary care doc, the pediatrician, her midwife and a Chinese herbalist.? Everything that has been suggested has been tried, and at this point, nothing has worked.

Please offer any suggestions that you might have, no matter how random - is there something we're all missing here???

Thanks so much for your help!

Peggy




 


Peggy Healy, MS, IBCLC, RLC
The Art of Breastfeeding, Inc.
www.artofbreastfeeding.com
773-420-7534

 




 


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