Carol, not long ago I had a discussion with a specialist over this same
thing.  She believed, like your mom's doc, that it was esential for the
mother's health to wean.  She did give very convincing agruments why
such a drastic measure was necessary.  The doctor's name is Maria-Luisa
Bianchi, M.D..  Here is the address of the article which sparked my
interest.

http://www.obgyn.net/pb/articles/osteo_pglactation_bianchi.htm

In response to a letter I sent, Dr. Bianchi gave this response and
permission to share it with Lactnet.

Dear Ms Rice,
I saw the patient some months after the vertebral fractures. The problem
was that these were not diagnosed, and her pain was much underestimated
by her doctor who thought she exaggerated it.

Regarding her condition, data about pregnancy-associated osteoporosis
(PAO) are relatively scarce, because this condition is rare. This
particular form of osteoporosis generally appears during the last
trimester of the first pregnancy or during lactation. The cause is not
known: probably the mechanisms normally preserving the mother’s skeleton
during pregnancy are not activated. The disease appears to be self
limited:
after pregnancy and lactation there is no more loss of bone mass. In
the experience of most researchers - including myself - the disease will
not appear in a second pregnancy, or will be much less important (but
please note that this experience is based on very few cases). All these
doctors agree that lactation should be discouraged, because it might
favour calcium loss from the mother’s bone. Generally, no medication is
needed, as a substantial recovery of bone mass is the norm after
pregnancy and lactation. Of course, vertebral fractures lead to a
permanent deformity of the affected vertebrae.


--

Denny Rice, RN, IBCLC
Dallas Texas USA

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