I have to disagree that the primary factor is the heat. These women, unlike
the cows, are in air conditioned cars and offices. While they may be more
thirsty than usual, I doubt they are really suffering the kind of heat
stress the cattle are experiencing standing around in the sun. Sun stroke
can make you sick, and being sick can decrease milk production in any
animal.
There are several studies that look at the relationship between fluid
consumption and milk supply, and no direct linear relationship has been
discovered even in desert populations. Derrick Jelliffe stated in Human
Milk In the Modern World (1978): "Numerous investigations have shown that
variation in water intake between wide limits has no physiological effect on
the volume of milk secreted. This seems endrocrinologically explicable in
light of the renal anti-diuretic, water-sparing effect of prolactin."
I'd guess the problem is the kind of pump they are using. I've worked with
employed, pumping moms for close to 15 years, and over and over I've seen
women go to what I call "toy" pumps and suffer declines in production. Even
the Pump in Style stops being really effective (in my opinion) when women
reach the point at 3-5 mo. where lactation ceases to be marked by the
characteristic over-supply seen in the early days pp. I've often had calls
from moms using the PNS or the Nurture III or the double-Mini-electrics
complaining about low supply. To experimentally test my hypothesis that it
was the need for more stim. during later lactation, I have many time loaned
(for no money) a rental grade pump for a week or so to see what happened to
supply. In every case where I did this in the supply went up. This led to
my decision 3 or 4 years ago to not sell pumps any more. If I see a mom
with faltering production for any reason, or a mom who is returning to
work, I recommend a rental grade pump. The other pumps are fine for
occasional use, but I hate to represent them as being a fail-safe solution
for the mom who has lengthy separation from her infant, or as being adequate
to replace the stimulation of a baby.
As any mother pumping for months because of a non-nursing preemie will tell
you, it is hard to keep the milk supply up even with the best pumps.
Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.jump.net/~bwc/lactnews.html
***********************************************
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
|
