Hmmm. . . Pardee's question got me wondering.  Nobody up here in my area of
Wisconsin uses teabags, but we used to see a *LOT* of yeast.  A couple of years
back I probably got 2-5 calls per week that started out "my nipples used to feel
fine but now they're so sore . . ."  Now I probably only get 2 or 3 calls per
month like this.  A while back when there was a thrush discussion on Lactnet I
pondered on this and wondered if the apparent decrease in incidence was because
I've been hanging around this hospital long enough now that more of the MD's are
educated about treating mom when baby has thrush and therefore head off the
problem.  (I'd like to think I have this much effect, but am not convinced.)

But today I came up with another possibility.  Antibiotic use hasn't changed but
what HAS changed is what we're recommending mothers put on their nipples.  It
used to be standard to suggest expressed breastmilk be rubbed into tender
nipples.  Now every one of our mothers goes home with a container of modified
lanolin.  I'll bet lanolin isn't nearly as good a medium for candidal growth as
breastmilk is.  Any opinions on this, anyone?  Whatever the cause of the
apparent decrease in incidence, I'M happy!

Becky Krumwiede, RN, IBCLC
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