I am looking for information on diabetes insipidus and breastfeeding. I recently
worked with a first time mother who had this condition. She had no other
medical or surgical conditions that would interfere with breastfeeding. Her
breasts increased in size during pregnancy. She experienced a spontaneous labor
and birth with no medications during her labor. She breastfed on cue from birth
(6 to 9 times per 24 hours). Over the first two weeks of life, the baby had >6
wet diapers per 24 hours starting on the 4th day and scanty yellow-green stools.
The mother reported that she settled after feeds, however a soother was used
extensively after the first week as "she wanted to suck all the time". At 2 weeks
of age she had not regained her birth weight. The baby was found to be healthy
and the mother's milk supply was low. The standard strategies of improving
breastfeeding technique, infant stimulation and breast massage while the baby
was at breast, switch nursing,  supplementation at the breast and augmentation
of stimulation with breast pumping were used. The baby began to gain well on
250-300cc commercial baby milk per day. There was no sign of milk supply
increase with pumping. Prolactin levels were drawn at 3 weeks postpartum
prior to a feed and 20 minutes into a feeding. (prefeed=34 ng/ml and mid feed
36 ng/ml)  which seemed to indicate a physiological basis for underproduction.
The mother continued to breastfeed with supplement by bottle (she found the
supplementer awkward) for 4 months. Does anyone have experience with this
or reference material that may help to improve my understanding of the
physiology and/or suggestions that may have helped more here? Jacki Glover

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Bill & Jacki Glover            e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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