Kathy Lilleskov asks to be directed to studies showing that it is
cabbage and not the engorgement itself which leads to a drop in milk
supply when cabbage is used.

I doubt you will find any studies looking at this aspect of it, there
are hardly any good studies on the effect of cabbage to treat
engorgement in the first place. I tried searching in PubMed just now
and found a number of references for cabbage leaves and breast
engorgement, none for cabbage + lactation suppression or any other
combination of words I could think of that might lead to articles
about the effect of cabbage on milk supply.

I did notice that the Cochrane Review of treatments for engorgement
was updated in 2010 and they found eight studies worthy of inclusion
in the review, dealing with cabbage, acupuncture, ultrasound, chilled
gel packs, and unspecified pharmaceuticals. The total number of women
comprising the research subjects for these eight studies was only 744,
(that should tell us how unimportant the problem is seen to be in the
larger world of clinical research) and the Cochrane group found that
"Allthough some interventions may be promising, there is not
sufficient evidence from trials on any intervention to justify
widespread implementation. More research is needed on treatments for
this painful and distressing condition."

None of the 8 articles on PubMed that came up along with the Cochrane
review had investigated any effects on volume of milk production in
connection with the use of treatments for engorgements. It seems not
to be a parameter anyone has thought to examine.

In the abstract for one of these studies it was mentioned that milk
removal seems to give the best and fastest relief of symptoms of
engorgement, which certainly supports the use of anything that
facilitates milk removal from engorged breasts. I am only dreaming
these days of a study comparing RPS with any other measures to relieve
engorgement, but in the meantime I see it being used with consistent
success all the time. Such a simple technique, requiring no equipment
whatsoever - I never use it without sending very grateful thanks to
Jean Cotterman for her astute observations and her persistence in
generously presenting them to the rest of us.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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