I have a 40 yr old client, 1st baby, who had hyperprolactinemia before
pregnancy and was put on bromocriptine in order to to drop her prolactin
level and allow for conception. After 3 miscarriages (one of which she
knows was a chromosomal anomaly), she carried to term in an uneventful
pregnancy. Uneventful except that her prolactin levels apparently stayed
as low as those of a non-pregnant woman - about 20, where they should have
been 200-500.
Baby was born by c-section after "failure to progress" and did not latch
well in hospital. Mom began pumping on about Day 3. Now it's Day 7 and,
despite regular double pumping, she produces only drops - not even enough
to slide down into the bottle.
Today they started w/ an SNS, and baby did pretty well, tho her nipples are
large and flat. Breasts are large, too, and mom is mildly obese. She
noticed no breast enlargement during pregnancy. She says she has stretch
marks on her abdomen, so I figure she's stretch-mark prone, but there are
no stretch marks on her breasts. There's no asymmetry or "tubular" look -
just nice, floppy, big breasts. I wasn't able to hand express more than a
drop or two.
I'm in touch w/ her endocrinologist and will call Ruth Lawrence's Lactation
Study Center. Her endocrinologist seems open to doing whatever someone
recommends, but doesn't have suggestions himself, except to say that he
hasn't seen a woman w/ a similar history have trouble breastfeeding.
Your thoughts?
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL Ithaca, NY USA
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