Jaye writes:

<Her prolactin level was 84.5.  Since Prolactin should be peaking between
200
and 400 on Day 10 (per Lawrence) I assume this is part of the issue.>


I haven't done any current reading about prolactin levels but I wonder when
this level was drawn in relation to time of mom's last breastfeeding in
particular, as I seem to remember from some very old articles that it surges
about 8 fold within 30 minutes of beginning a feeding in the early days and
weeks, and has a half-life of about 3 hours. This would mean that drawing it
between feedings might easily catch it on a normal downward trend. Also, it
makes a difference as to what time of day it is drawn, and in relation to
the last time the mom herself has eaten. I wonder just how careful labs are
about giving/following directions before drawing this. If it were being
drawn to rule out pituitary pathology in a non-lactating patient, that might
not be so crucial, but in a lactating mom, it would seem very important to
be scrupulous about all these factors.


It only seems to make sense that if we are checking a mom for the purpose of
applying the results to solving problems in early milk manufacture that the
blood be drawn, I would think, before nursing, for a baseline, and then
again 30 minutes after starting a feeding so as to see if there was a rise,
and if so, how big a rise. And this would still have to be planned in regard
to time of day and time of mom's meals. I hope someone with more recent and
up-to-date information on this will correct me if I'm wrong.

Just my $.02

Jean

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