> Hello All, I would appreciate any info for a Mom I am helping. Her son is
> 10 mos. She is 15 weeks pregnant and she miscarried a twin at 9 weeks. She
> has hypertension. Her OB will permit her to continue to BF until she is 24
> weeks and her son is 1 year old. I will help her dialog with HCPs in
> regards to this because she is not sure she is ready to wean. Does anybody
> have any experience with this type of risky situation? Thanks so much,
>

I can't help it, the hair on the back of my neck stands up when I read "her
OB will permit her to continue to BF until she is 24 weeks." Doctors may
give advice and discuss potential risks with me, but I will make my own
decisions about my health care and certainly about whether or not to wean my
baby. If a doctor ever said to me "I will permit you to breastfeed for " any
length of time, I would be out of that office so fast!

In these high-risk pregnancies, the mother has several things to consider.
Will her hypertension be worse without the calming tool of breastfeeding to
help her manage life with a toddler? How will she feel if she weans her baby
early and miscarries anyway? I have seen that happen to more than one mother
who then deeply regrets the weaning. How will she feel if she continues to
nurse and then miscarries, even if there is no evidence that the miscarriage
was related to nursing? What is so magical about 24 weeks? It seems to me
that the risk of miscarriage is higher in the early weeks, not later, so I
don't see the point to weaning at this stage of pregnancy.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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