Thank you Catherine and Susan for your replies.  Some of the moms I talk to
are not concerned with general growth (it's totally fine),  but rather the
perceived QUALITY of their milk.  Their thinking is more fat=higher quality
milk.  They might pump a bottle and see just a tiny amount of fat on the top
and worry about brain development.  They want to know how to increase the
amount of fat in their milk.  I'm thinking the answer is: relax, feed the
baby when she's hungry, don't pump unless you need to (ie separation) and
(barring an unusual situation) baby will get exactly what she needs for
optimal growth.  Too much pumping can create oversupply and (I would think)
upset the balance of fat (and everything else) in the milk that the baby is
actually getting.  I know fat composition is affected by the mother's diet,
but I haven't seen anything to suggest that diet changes the percentage of
fat in human milk (PLEASE let me know if I'm missing something here!)

Thanks again,

Jessica
LLLL in Los Angeles

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