I believe that hormones that make a woman fertile and that allow
lactogenesis to take place can have an emotional trigger, overriding the
natural course of physical "maturing." (sometimes called aging) :)

Here is my story.  A few years ago I was fully post menopausal--more than 2
years with no menses along with other signs.  I had two clients whom I
worked with for well over two months--those cases were very distressing
because the mothers were rejecting their babies.

One of them wouldn't even say her baby's name even though I always called
him by his name.  Her husband was the care giver.  She hardly cared for
baby at all--token breastfeeding and lot of supplementing. I called and
went by frequently continuing to encourage her and exclaim about her little
treasured one. She was often pumping and letting Dad feed baby.

The other one would grudgingly feed her baby and was very angry at his
colic.  I would come into the home and she would say, "Here! Take him.  I
can't stand this any more." I went by often and baby would often calm in my
arms. I exclaimed over every little thing that she did or said that was
positive.

I held these two little boys a lot and I longed for them to "charm" their
mothers into loving them. A month after beginning working with them I
ovulated (I could always feel it) and two weeks later I had a menstrual
period accompanied by swollen breasts.  As I continued working with these
two women I had a second full cycle.  I believe that I could have easily
induced lactation. [My internist was concerned but I told her that I felt
that I knew what was causing it.  So she waited to explore]

Joyfully they both became loving mothers.  One day the first one called and
said, "I just had to call you and tell you what 'Jacob' did today!  As we
were feeding he put his darling little foot on my cheek!"  She said his
name and he was a precious little boy now. [She went on to feed him for
close to 2 years.]

Shortly afterwards I went to the other mother's house and when I walked in
she was holding him on her hip, close, and *swaying* while she talked.  He
was glowing and so was she. She had learned that comforting, Mother Sway.

Well, needless to say, my reproductive hormones settled back down and I
returned to Gramma status. But I experienced what I had read
about--hormonal changes when a woman needs to feed an infant to save its life.

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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