I'm posting a reply for Cathy Liles (whose is currently without an on-line
server) concerning the woman with Myasthenia Gravis who wishes to bf. Cathy's
daughter was diagnosed with Myasthenia at age 2. At that time (and over the
years) Cathy has done extensive research on the long term outlook for Marisa.
This has also included future affect on breastfeeding. Evidently, if it's the
auto-immune type, the newborn will carry anti-bodies and have symptoms of
severe Myasthenia for several days, maybe needing a respirator, but will
recover completely if baby doesn't have the disease itself. If this is the
case, mom will need to pump and dump for that period of time. I'm not exactly
sure why, perhaps more anti-bodies are carried in the early milk and can
compromise an already sick baby. If the mom's disease is not auto-immune,
there are no contraindications for bf. If mom is on Mestinon, it should have
no affect on bf.
I certainly wish Cathy was answering this herself as I fear I've left out or
garbled an important point. Any M.D.s available with more accurate
information?