I wonder if it is not the drops that are the potential problem here (or at
least the basis for postponing the eye exam). I recalled sections of
Barbara's posts from last year that mentioned that pregnancy and
breastfeeding affects the eyes. Maybe this is what the concern was. (Since
these posts are freely available by checking the archives, I thought it was
OK to re-print here. There were several posts discussing dry eyes during
breastfeeding at this time.)

>Date:    Fri, 13 Oct 1995 09:24:14 -0400
>From:    "Barbara Wilson-Clay, Ibclc" <[log in to unmask]>

>Researchers
>discovered an affect of hormones of preg. and bfg which affected corneal
>curve.  The same thing occurs again to some women during menopause.  Lisa (I
>think) posted a response to this question remarking about how her contacts
>bothered her during this time.  The advice the clinicians gave was to avoid
>fitting women for contacts during this time, and to delay prescribing for new
>glasses.  The sit. is usually temporary.

------------------------

>Date:    Mon, 16 Oct 1995 20:39:31 -0400
>From:    "Barbara Wilson-Clay, Ibclc" <[log in to unmask]>

>S.Park, K. Lindahl, G Temnycky, J. Aquavella:  The Effect of Pregnancy on
>Corneal Curvature. Contact Lens Assoc of Opthal Journal 1992;18(4):256-259.

>Changes in corneal curvature were observed with a linear relationship between
>the gestational period and the increase of the curvature.  Corneal curvature
>increases up to the third trimester and decreases to first trimester values
>post-partum.  If breastfeeding takes place the increase in corneal curvature
>remains until after weaning when it returns to 1st tri. values.  Prolactin is
>suspected to cause physiological changes such as corneal edema.  This may
>partly explain such phenom. as contact lens intolerance reported during
>preg., although other factors may be involved. The authors suggested a
>reasonable approach of defering the prescription of optical corrections such
>as contacts until after cessation of breastfeeding.

I hope this clarifies the situation a bit.

Joy Anderson IBCLC, NMAA Breastfeeding Counsellor,
Perth, Western Australia
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