Does some of the anesthesia concern stem from a belief that the breasts
are storage tanks?  I used to assume that the "pump and dump" protocol was
to get rid of "tainted" milk, and probably a lot of people still think so.

Correct me if I'm wrong, folks, but the drug level in the milk rises and
falls with the drug level in the body, and the "pump and dump" is just a
way of keeping her milk supply going while the drug clears her body.  For
a mother to regain consciousness post-surgery, her blood levels have to
have fallen substantially.  Hence, her milk levels have as well.

There are several good drug info data bases around the country.  Here in the
Northeast, I use Dr. Ruth Lawrence's Lactation Study Center, at
716-275-0088.  You can also call for free flyers to distribute to your
docs.  Dr. Lawrence's flyer headings are:  "Human Milk for the Human
Infant", "The Computer Data Bank:  Free Information for Physicians",
"How Our Data Bank Can Help You".

 (Then there are the lucky people like us who have Lactnet! :-)  )

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL Ithaca, NY

This LC was once very ill,
In need of both IV and pill
  In hospital far -
  Quite an hour by car -
And toddler was breastfeeding still.

The drugs were "verboten", they said,
But when toddler crawled into her bed
  For his once-a-week snack,
  No milk there, alack,
So the problem was all in their head!