I am intrigued with something that I have noticed.  I just got a call
from a mother who had a cholecystectomy one week ago.  This mother has a
three month old baby who up until the cholecystectomy had been
exclusively breastfed.  The mother was not allowed to nurse immediately
after surgery because of medications she was given, so she pumped.  This
mother's milk supply was very well established prior to the surgery but
now she finds that her breasts do not feel full at all and when she does
pump, she is only getting very small quantities.  She is used to pumping
because she is employed and pumps at work and has a Medela pump in
style.  Her baby is nursing just as often as he was prior to the surgery
but she says that she is worried that her milk supply has really
decreased dramatically.

Anyway, I gave her the usual info for increasing milk supply.  I
explained that with the surgery that this could have been a stress to
her body and her milk supply decreased then.  Her physician even
suggested Reglan for her, which I explained has worked well for many
women with low milk supplies.

This is the fourth call that I have gotten  regarding a mother having to
have her gallbladder removed.  With all of the mothers their babies were
between 2-4 months old and all of these mothers had a very difficult
time getting their milk supply back.  One of the mothers that I helped
is a good friend of mine who is an O.B. nurse and this was her 5th child
(she had breastfed all of her children) and she never got a full milk
supply back.  She tried everything imaginable - medications, herbs,
frequent pumping between nursing, everything!  This was devastating for
her.

My question is:  do you think there is somehow a correlation not so much
with the surgery but having the gallbladder removed that would cause the
milk supply to decrease?  I just think this is more than coincidence.
I've never read anything to suggest this but I am certainly wondering.

Theresa Weigel, IBCLC

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