I have also experienced PCOS moms with overabundant supply.  Rachel says,

<<Far better to assume the best and be prepared to deal swiftly with any
real problems that do arise - and at all costs don't alarm the mother.  In
this case she had enough problems with self-confidence after needing help to
conceive; I would be the last person to hint to her that there was a chance
she would not produce enough milk.>>

I am guessing, Rachel, that you all do a better job of follow-up with
breastfeeding moms than many of our moms get.  At first blush, I would agree
with your premise of not alarming a mom or undermining her self-confidence
and, indirectly, her ability to produce enough milk for her baby.  I have
seen it go both ways with PCOS moms.  Some didn't make enough (read: hardly
any!) milk for their baby, some experienced delayed onset but good supply
and some had over-abundant supply.  Though, the majority were in the first
category.  Unfortunately, I have also seen the heartbreak of a mom nursing a
premie in the SCN, managed by well-meaning, but uninformed residents who
assumed moms would make enough milk for their babies, and didn't check to
see if that was actually the case.  After 5 days, when I saw the mom, baby
was put on IV's and under the lights, mom was making almost nothing (and
days of pumping and Reglan didn't change that, domperidone not being an
option she wanted to try) and felt terribly guilty that she had been
breastfeeding her baby doing everything she was told for 5 days and the baby
was getting next to nothing.  I would much prefer to tell a PCOS mom up
front that it is possible she won't make enough milk, but it is also
possible she will make enough for 2 babies and show her what to watch for.
I'm afraid in our society here in the US, many of us have to practice
defensive lactation management.  We have to tell moms all the possibilities
and what to look for because they won't get the appropriate knowledgable
follow-up they should.  In this case, breastfeeding got blamed as the
problem, not the fact that they had no one knowledgeable in its management
working with this mom on a daily basis.

Marsha, just being a realist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future generations
as all other earthly causes combined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~John S. C. Abbot~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html