Hi all,

Kathleen's message gave me a sudden "AHA!".

My first bout of mastitis was with my third son, who was born 7 weeks after
his father died.  I remember that one of my La Leche League Leaders at the
time told me she had had no problems with mastitis until the month when both
of her grandmothers died.  I thought of course it must be stress.

Now I wonder if another factor is more significant.  In North America, the
food served by caterers and brought by caring friends and neighbors after a
death in the family tends to have a lot of red meat and/or dairy fat -- more
than a lot of LLL members I know normally eat.  I will certainly keep that
in mind in the future for lactating clients and friends.

Ruth Piatak, BA, MS, LLL Leader
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Date:    Sun, 9 Jan 2011 19:39:38 -0500
From:    Kathleen Gale <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Persistent Mastitis
Hi! I personally have had experience with persistent, repeated mastitis, and
through a wonderful nurse midwife, who remembered something from one of her
textbooks, discovered that some people are very sensitive to saturated fats
in their diet.
Many moons ago, when i had my first child, I got mastitis on day 3, and had
mastitis 5 times in 8 weeks--ended up being told that I had to stop
breastfeeding, and actually feeling relieved, because it had been the worst
time in my life.
When pregnant with my second child, I started discussing the problem with
the midwife.  We made a plan to cut way back on saturated fats as soon as
the baby was born, and to take Lecithin as well, which they think makes the
milk ducts more slippery.  So, I followed the plan, and had not problem at
all.  We then experimented, and gradually increased my saturated fats, and
if I overdid it, I would start to get sore, then I would back off.  I did
this same thing for my subsequent child.  Of course, back then, they had
nothing to tell me what had saturated fat in it.  I researched it myself,
and found that if i avoided dairy and meat fats as much as possible, that
fit the bill.
Whenever I have a mother with plugged milk ducts or mastitis, I recommend
that they cut out as much dairy and meat fats as possible, and take Lecithin
3600-4800 mg lecithin per day, or 1 capsule (1200 milligram) 3-4 times per
day. After a week or two with no blockage, mom can reduce the dosage by one
capsule.   This is Jack Newman's recommendation, and you can find more
information on this at <kellymom.com>
If this mother hasn't tried this, perhaps it will help her.
Kathleen L. Gale RN, IBCLC. RLC
Hospital Lactation Consultant

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