The only endocrinology puzzle I really feel we got to the bottom of was a
woman whose high prolactin prevented pregnancy.  She took bromocriptine,
dropped her prolactin to normal, got pregnant, went off the bromocriptine,
had a normal pregnancy (with breast enlargement) and birth, but never
exceeded an ounce a day in milk production.  Baby also wasn't latching well,
and she quit after a month.  We found no postpartum reason for the lack of
milk.

But she called me months later to say she'd looked over her pregnancy
bloodwork.  During pregnancy, her prolactin levels had remained at a normal
level for a non-pregnant woman, though they did rise postpartum.  Prolactin
is necessary for lobular-alveolar development.  We're guessing the breast
enlargement she saw was duct growth, but without those all-important alveoli
at the duct ends.
--
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY
www.wiessinger.baka.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(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html