> Heather, you wrote:
>
> <My understanding is that the foremilk is milk that trickles down from
> the
> storage cells, leaving the fattier milk behind because it is stickier -
> being fattier
Jean wrote:
> If I remember correctly, it is the lactose itself, which given enough
> time, draws extra fluid from the tissues into the ducts to create a
> better osmotic balance. When this "watering down" occurs, the classic
> physical phenomenon begins to take place. Fat (cream) simply rises, given
> time.

As I always have understood, the milk is synthesized in the milkcells
(alveoli), and the fat is deposited at the duct-walls near the milkcells.
The milk that is made drips towards the sinusses, regardless of were they
are located (up or down, depending of wether the mother is laying down,
bending over or standing upright) and the fat remains on the ductwalls
untill it is forcefully pushed through by the milk ejection.
Studies (I never seem to recall when or where I read such things :-(, ) have
shown that the more frequent a mom breastfeeds, the less fat per feed there
will be. For example in cultures where *non-stop* feeding is norm or in hot
wether when baby is thursty.
Fat will rise to the top of a container with non-moving liquids, like the
bottle with non-homogenized milk on the doorstep (I remember it, too: we had
*school milk* and my class mates hated the thick, sticky cream and donated
it all to me and they drank the skimmed milk ...). Milk in the breast is
moving and being processed, so the fat will not rise as in the bottle. (When
you would go on stirring or shaking the milk in the bottle it would'n
either.)
So, I think it is not the size of the breasts nor the mom's position in
space, but the frequency of feeding and the force of the milkejection
together that determines the fat contents of milk. Any fat not consumed will
stick to the wall again and be removed at the next session and perhaps will
come in somewhat sooner, because it is a bit closer to the nipple.
I have (always had) a bigger (F-G cup) and a smaller (D - DD cup) sized
breast. I fed 5 children with them and the only difference was that (if at
all) the children were best satisfied at the larger one...
Warmly (no signs of winter here for weeks now),
Gonneke van Veldhuizen, IBCLC, Maaseik, Belgium

             ***********************************************
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