Dear Kathy--

There are a lot of reasons this woman could still be lactating, the most
likely being that she is having some kind of nipple stimulation that is
keeping her from drying up completely. THere is an old LLL joke in this
regard.  I don't remember the whole thing, but the punchline is "And
when did you wean your husband?" The point of the joke is that nipple
stimulation of any kind can keep a supply going. In fact, even checking
too often to see if you have milk can make milk.  Indeed, when I
volunteered in my college's clinic, I remember several cases of young
women who were sent to a big med. school clinic about an hour away for
"inappropriate lactation". After the endrocrinologist there had worked
up several of these cases and found nothing, he called college clinic
and told us to ask the young women if they were "nursing their
boyfriends" before we wasted any more of his time.

Second, when I work with adoptive nursers, a surprising number report
that they got a drop or two on their very first pumping--so the milk
must have been there all along.  These are women who haven't been
pregnant or nursed a baby ever or in a very long time. I don't ask about
their husbands.

Warmly-
Judy Gelman, IBCLC
Washington, DC

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