I spoke to a mother who has a 4.5 month old baby.  For the past month or
so, she gets hives, all over, but particularly noticeable over the
breast from which she is nursing whenever she nurses the baby (every
feed, every 3 hours or so).  This information was gleaned by phone, but
it does sound like hives.

I have heard of mothers continuing the urticaria (PUP) of pregnancy
during the immediate postpartum period and for a few weeks after, but
this is new.  There is definitely a relationship with breastfeeding the
baby, she says.

Any ideas?  I did tell her she could use an antihistamine for the
itching, but has anyone heard of this and can anyone explain the
mechanism?

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC