First, I made an error in my previous post, that I want to correct.  It
should have been, "This is because such a mom has learned to take joy in the
act of nurturing her baby at the breast, and to value every ounce of liquid
gold her breasts produce, while someone who expects to produce alot more
milk can miss out on alot of the joy, because she not only sees the same
milk volume, or even alot MORE (not less) as inadequate, but has generally
focused much more of her attention on milk production."

Over the years, I have not only encountered the suggestion that most moms
who are dedicated will have abundant milk supplies, just from suckling the
baby, but also suggestions that most adoptive moms produce no milk and that,
if they do produce milk, it will be in small amounts, that will take months
to achieve, will be there infrequently, etc..  I have taken issue with the
latter attitude as much as the former.  Most mothers who just spend alot of
time suckling their babies DO produce a significant amount of breast milk!
What I have seen with moms who have been counseled not to expect more than a
tiny bit of milk, if any, are less likely to decide to try nursing at all.
However, of those who decide to go ahead and nurse their babies, the success
rate, as far as establishing a long-term nursing relationship, is high, and
most produce a significant amount of milk, too.

I have only known of three adoptive moms whom I felt really stuck with it
long enough to give it a chance, and did things correctly, but could not see
that they were producing any milk at all.  None of these had ever been
pregnant, even for a short time.  Also, none had tried domperidone, which I
suspect that it might have made a difference for them.  One of these had
nursed one baby, for 4 months, with the SNS, without much advanced
preparation.  Another nursed two adopted babies, with the Lact-Aid, one for
7 months and the other for 9 months, and spent a total of three months
pumping with the Lactina, prior to her babies' arrival.  Both had used a few
bottles, but had nursed for the majority of feedings. The other mom pumped
for about six weeks beforehand, and then nursed with the Lact-Aid, giving
her baby no bottles or pacifiers.  After for two months of this, the mom
became pregnant.  Of course, the pregnancy could account for there not being
milk, but most adoptive moms start producing milk in under two weeks, with
no advance preparation, so the two months of exclusive nursing without any
milk production, before the pregnancy, was unusual. I remember that it was
male factor that had prevented this mom from getting pregnant for the few
years prior to her son's adoption.  This was an especially interesting case.
  I wondered if the reason that she had not produced milk for her adopted
baby was that she was one of the few women with insufficient breast tissue,
and if that would mean that she would have trouble producing sufficient milk
for the baby she was giving birth to.  That was not a problem, however!  She
started producing large amounts of colostrum in her sixth month, which her
adopted son, who nursed with the Lact-Aid throughout the pregnancy, thrived
on and, after delivery, she had a very abundant supply.  Another interesting
(and frustrating) fact in this case was that her adopted son rejected the
breast, without the Lact-Aid being there, even when there was so much milk
coming from the breast that it was leaking!  (The fact that babies'
willingness to give up the supplementer is often dependant on other factors
besides how much milk he is getting from the breast is another topic!)

Now, for a message from my  seven year old daughter:
"Hi, my name is Joanna!  I am Darillyn's daughter.  I am adopted.  When my
Mommy nursed me, it was tasty!  When you are a baby, nursing is fun! When
the baby gets bigger and the baby's mom has a little bit of milk, it is real
salty.  Bye!  Joanna"

More later!

Darillyn




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