<The problem is that since 1992 she has had recurrent
inflammation in both her breasts, the midwife called it a 'sort of
mastitis', but is herself not clear what it is>

It sounds like periductal mastitis or duct ectasia - a benign breast
condition. There may be some scarring of some ducts, but I would imagine
lactation should be OK. You would have to wait and see, keeping a close eye
out for mastitis - or breast refusal (material in ducts may not be pleasant
tasting).
Lisa Amir
MBBS, MMed, IBCLC in Melbourne, Australia

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html