"As far as the fat content/overall chemical composition of the milk goes, I
believe it changes constantly before, during, after feedings to meet the
physiologic/nutritional needs of the baby at any given moment."

Actually, from Hartmann's research, the breast makes milk at a much faster
clip when it is at rest, iow, not being pumped or nursed from.  I know we
have long told moms that their babies may want to nurse 24 hrs/day during
growth spurts or frequency periods (or whatever we are calling them now; I
don't get so hung up on terminology as the principle is the same) and often
that's when moms get into difficulty.  They WANT a break.  So, this is where
I think the 5 S's (and dad or grandma) come in beautifully.  If mom can get
at least a one hour break, there will be more milk for baby and she can
gather her wits about her again.  Also, from an anthropological standpoint
(and believe me, I'm no expert, though I know one!), I don't know that it's
helpful to say how things should be because they may be that way somewhere
else or at some other point in history.  We have learned from the Kung tribe
for sure, but who's to say their milk content isn't adapted to the way they
nurse just as ours is to the way we do?  We all know just from the moms that
we have contact with, that there are all sorts of adaptations mother/baby
pairs make to the circumstances they are in, whether large breasts and
storage capacities or small with associated capacity where babies vary their
eating cycles and lengths, to heavy sleepers whose babies often seem to
sleep through earlier (my friend and her children) to light sleepers whose
children you'd expect to continue waking in the night longer (me and my
children).  There are myriad variations.  The beauty is that the breast and
milk supply can adapt and so do moms and babies.  I don't believe there is
one magical *right* way of doing this and we shouldn't hold mothers to that
or fault a society just on the basis of that difference.  We should be
celebrating the ability we have to adapt to our environmental conditions.
That is not inherently wrong. In much the same way, we as a profession are
adapting to many changes in our environment too!  Some are good, some not so
good.  But we still help moms breastfeed their babies in challenging
circumstances and discover the joy that is one of the greatest in life!

Marsha, ever the philosopher, in Indiana where Spring is finally here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future generations
as all other earthly causes combined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~John S. C. Abbot~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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