Hi Tania,

I'm sorry that I can't give you a more comprehensive answer at the moment
because I am under deadline to get my thesis (about the experiences of
mothers with hypoplasia/IGT) submitted in time for me to graduate, but I
wanted to let you know that in our study of mothers with hypoplasia, a very
prevalent theme is that *they wish they had been told* their breasts might
(or might not) show physical characteristics that may (or may not) be
predictive of low milk output in lactation.  Less than 1/5 of a
sub-population of the sample (I'm only working with about half of the data
for the thesis so this isn't a complete analysis but the N is sufficient)
indicated that they would only want to be told about the concerning
physical characteristics of their breasts after their breasts didn't want
to make milk -- more than twice that percentage wanted to be told before
pregnancy and about half of the respondents in this sample wanted to know
either during pregnancy or immediately postpartum.  The qualitative
responses support these numbers, as well -- these mothers really want to
know what you're seeing and they want to be counseled about why it's
concerning, even if there ends up being no problem with milk production.

For the best evidence we have about the physical markers of mammary
hypoplasia that may be predictive of lactation difficulty/low milk output,
see:

Huggins, K. E., Petok, E. S., & Mireles, O. (2000).  Markers of lactation
insufficiency: A study of 34 mothers. *Current Issues in Clinical
Lactation. *Sudbury, MA; Jones & Bartlett, 25-35.

A simple search will take you right to the full text of the paper online.


This blog post by an IGT mom is an excellent gallery of breasts of mothers
who struggled with lactation and offers some insight into how varied their
presentation might be.

http://diaryofalactationfailure.blogspot.com/2011/12/many-faces-well-not-faces-of-igt.html

I hope this is useful to you as you support this mother.

--Diana Cassar-Uhl, IBCLC (and hopefully soon-to-be MPH)
New York, U.S.A.


> Date:    Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:03:02 -0400
> From:    Tania Archbold <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: IGT/ hypoplasia
>
> Thank you.  I was concerned about setting doubts in her mind.  I did know
> about the spacing.  Is it a definite sign?  That is… if her breasts are not
> widely spaced is it very unlikely that she has IGT?
>
>
> Tania
>
> Tania Archbold B.Sc, IBCLC
> Mothers Nectar Lactation Consultant Services
> Guelph, ON Canada
> 519-400-7098
>
>
>
>
>

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