Cher,  As Jack said the stroke shouldn't affect her milk production on
either side.  However I am interested in what has happened with this mom.
She contacted you at 10 days post partum.  It seems she should have had a
pretty good indication of her milk "coming in" by then.  Was or is it
uneven?   If so, perhaps her ability to latch the baby (and hence to drain
the breast) with equal efficiency bilaterally has affected the supply
already....sort of like a dreadful, self fulfilling prophesy.  If this is
true then fixing the positioning and latch and adding pumping if needed
while still working on the latch/positioning may still bring the supply up.
Or single sided nursing could be done if this is better for the mom.  It
should be explained to her that the drying up of an non nursed breast is not
because of the stroke, per say, but because the breast wasn't emptied well
on a regular basis.

Of course, there could be other factors too, just like with any mom.
Unequal glandular tissue, different anatomical structure of the nipple or
areola leading to the baby preferring one side over the other.  Infant
positioning preferences leading to preferring one side over the other.  All
of these could lead to unequal milk production in any mom, stroke or not.

I was privileged to work with a mother who also had had a stroke many years
before.  She allowed me to observe her success, she didn't really need my
help.  She breastfed 2 children prior to our meeting (all her kidlets came
after the stroke) and she breastfed the present baby well too.  Necessary
compensations were made to facilitate her weak arm and leg with pillows,
cane, sling and family support.

Best of luck to you and this mom,
Carla

Cher wrote:
>>A mother has contacted me with a 10 day-old baby.  The mother suffered a
stroke 9 years ago that paralyzed the entire left side of her body.  Her
question to me is, "How likely is it that milk supply on that side will be
affected by the paralysis?"

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