Greetings all lactnuts.

My name is Elizabeth Brunacci, and I am a Breastfeeding Counsellor with the
Nursing Mothers Association of Australia.  I have been reading and immensely
enjoying Lactnet for months, but never dreamed of posting - until now!  My
reason for taking this daring step is to comment on Esther's (and indirectly
Pam's) unilateral deep breast pain stories.  In my very humble opinion,
"refilling pain" is the simplest and most easily ruled-out of the
explanations.  Refilling pain is often unilateral, occurring in the 'best'
milk-producing breast,  varies from mild to agonizing, occurs soon after a
feed *only*, lasts no more than an hour or so, and is worse/only present
after a large feed that has 'drained' the breast.  In Esther's case, with
the pain in the left breast, feeding only from the right breast at any
particular feed would eliminate the pain, and feeding only briefly from the
left before swapping to the right to finish the feed would reduce or
eliminate it.  Easily tested!  Also usually relatively easily managed - make
sure big feeds are shared between the 2 breasts, and limit comfort sucking
to the right breast.  The onset at around one month fits with the increased
milk production by that time, and the decrease at 6 months (in Pam's case)
fits with the decline in milk production following the introduction of
solids.  As to exactly *why* it occurs - I'll leave that to greater minds
than mine!

Regards,
Elizabeth Brunacci
NMAA, Sydney, Australia

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