Michelle, I would encourage you to re-check the information you have posted.
I have communicated directly with Dr. Perez, an author of the pregnancy
study, regarding how and why the study was conducted. It was her idea
because she wanted to help Filipino mothers who were offering formula due to
feeling like they weren't making enough milk. She chose to use Pro-Lacta's
(Go-Lacta is the U.S. name) product for her study, and they in turn donated
the product.  In no other way did she accept funding, nor did Pro-Lacta
initiate this study. Regarding the design, you may consider it unethical (I
am assuming because it involved pregnant women) but in the Filipino
understanding of malunggay, and they certainly know much more about it than
we do, it was perfectly valid. 

Regarding the removal of the study from Go-Lacta's website, I would
recommend contacting them directly to ask why. That's what I did. Personally
I appreciate the level of integrity they have shown. 

In regards to criticisms of "pricey therapies," there are a number of other
commercial galactogogues out there in the same price range, if not more--
Motherlove, WiseWoman Herbal's Lactaflow, M&B-A, Vitanica's Lactation
Blend...  I am glad that we have them to help mothers when standard
practices are not enough.  Yes, a woman could create her own tea if she
wished, or in the case of malunggay, a food dish. But here in the U.S. fresh
malunggay is hard to come by. The Filipino women in my own home town say
they can only find frozen, and that it is expensive. They are grateful for
the availability of the capsules.

>> The obscurity makes it hard for anyone to judge whether they personally
are comfortable with that evidence (or to provide it to the primary health
care providers or client who are really the ones making the final call)....
This is a problem with many herbal preparations, but it is more of a problem
with this one than say, fenugreek/blessed thistle.<<

 I must disagree with the assertion of the last sentence. The number and
quality of studies for malunggay is greater than what I have on fenugreek.
And blessed thistle-- well, I have yet to find direct studies of its
galactogogue properties, only historical references, yet we seem to feel
entirely comfortable recommending it without empirical evidence. I am
posting the major galactogogue references I have for malunggay below. Based
on this and other malunggay articles examining various properties, I
personally feel very comfortable with this plant. I understand that lack of
familiarity will bring more suspicion and scrutiny, but I think that we also
must be cognizant of our cultural bias and careful in the statements that we
make. 

~Lisa Marasco

Briton-Medrano, G., & Perez, L. (2002). The efficacy of malunggay (moringa
oleifera) given to near term pregnant women in inducing early postpartum
breast milk production- a double blind randomized clinical trial.
[Apparently unpublished; no identification]. 

Co, M., Hernandez, E., & Co, B. (2002). A comparative study on the efficacy
of the different galactogogues among mothers with Lactational Insufficiency.
The Philippine Journal of Pediatrics 51(2), 88-93. 

Estrella, M., Mantaring, J., & David, G. (2000). A double blind, randomised
controlled trial on the use of malunggay (Moringa oleifera) for augmentation
of the volume of breastmilk among non-nursing mothers of preterm infants.
Philipp J Pediatr, 49, 3-6. 

Humphrey, S. (2007). Herbal Therapies During Lactation. In T. Hale & P.
Hartmann (Eds.), Textbook of Human Lactation. Amarillo TX: Hale Publishing.

Sánchez, N. R., Spörndly, E., & Ledin, I. (2006). Effect of feeding
different levels of foliage of Moringa oleifera to creole dairy cows on
intake, digestibility, milk production and composition. Livestock Production
Science, 101(1), 24-31. 

Yabes-Almirante, C., & Lim, C. (1996). Effectiveness of Natalac as
Galactagogue. Journal of Phil Med Assoc., 71(2), 272. 

Yabes-Almirante, C., & Lim, C. H. T. N. (1996). Enhancement of breastfeeding
among hypertensive mothers. Paper presented at the Increasingly Safe and
Successful Pregnancies, Manila, Philippines.

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