Hi
I posted about Hodgkins disease a month or so ago. I can tell you about my
own personal experience. I received radiation to my chest and para-aortic
glands in 1979 for Hodgkins disease. I had 20 treatments of each I believe-
each series took about a month. In 1985 I gave birth to my son and never
gave any thought to whether I would be able to bf or not- I (fortunately)
never asked anybody either because I might have been discouraged from doing so.

My son weighed 8lb 10 oz at birth and by 2 months, he weighed 13 lb 8oz. By
4 mos he weighed 17lb 13oz. At that point he started getting some cereal and
had solids slowly introduced as per the usual pediatric guidelines of the
time. By one year he weighed 28 lb 8 oz.

I don't know if everyone who received radiation to their chests is as
fortunate as me. But based on my experience I would encourage mothers who'd
had radiation to breastfeed. I would look for other causes of lactation
problems in the mother referred to in your case study also.

Hope this helps,

Maureen Kennedy RN BScN IBCLC