This question was recently posed by an IBCLC-to-be in one of our courses and I'm unable to answer it. I haven't read of preterm birth being a problem for breast development in the future so assume that it isn't. Can anyone tell us more about the effect of the premature loss of these placental hormones on breast mammogenesis? "In Lawrence it says that at 28 weeks gestation placental sex hormones enter the fetal circulation and induce canalization + the ductal lumens are formed after 32 weeks of gestation. Now my question is, is there an effect on normal breast development in women born premature i.e. around 28 weeks - once out of the uterus the placental hormones are no longer available to drive this process? Is this compensated for postnatally in premature infants (I'm thinking later during puberty / pregnancy)?" Thank you. Denise *************************************** Denise Fisher Health e-Learning http://www.health-e-learning.com **************************************** *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html