The advice not to pump and to bind the breasts after a stillbirth is
common.  Even if the breasts are not permanently damaged by this (lack
of ) lactation management, the advice is cruel.

THe mother is aching physically and emotionally when some misguided
professional comes in and tells her "don't touch your breasts." Unless
the mother thinks that making her breasts taboo will help her
psychologically, there is NO excuse for this idiocy.

I have worked with dozens of women in this situation and also a handful
who placed babies for adoption.  Almost everyone preferred to manage her
inevitable engorgement with ice, pumping, showers, advil, sage tea and
(sometimes) cabbage leaves.  Most bereaved mothers I know, included
myself, prefer to express and donate the milk and wean gradually (over a
couple weeks.)

 My sample is biased, because these mothers called for lactational
help.  Still, I don't understand why bereaved mothers continue to be
treated this way.

When you talk to women who lost babies in the past, the pain of
engorgement is often a focus for the misery they remember.

Let's help these mothers like we do others by making them as comfortable
as possible.

Happy New Year!
Judy Gelman, IBCLC
Washington,DC