Good evening to all, and a special plea to the herbalists on our list.....
I am working with a mom that is  7 weeks pregnant.  She also has a 4 year
old, but has had difficulty conceiving this child (and lost one to
miscarriage 2 years ago).  She was found to have hyperprolactinemia on an
infertility workup (with no known pituitary lesion) and was placed on
paroldel.  She took this for awhile, but decided she preferred herbal therapy
and has been taking vitex/chaste berry root.  She feels that this helped her
to conceive and is thrilled.  However, she has many questions regarding
pregnancy and lactation, and we have been researching together.  All of my
references indicate to discontinue vitex during pregnancy (not sure why) and
lactation (very sure why).  She is hesitant to do so, because she is afraid
that the possible increase in prolactin may cause her to miscarry.  I have
found a lot regarding prolactin in our literature and in the ob literature,
but very little regarding it's effect on early pregancy.  The mom has found
one reference in a library book mentioning that elevated prolactin levels may
decrease the function of the corpus luteum, and therefore cause miscarriage.
So, some questions that I have are,
1.  Anyone have experience with this type of concern
2.  Could anyone please advice on the vitex--my gut feeling is to stop--mom
is worried to do either
3.  Any suggestions on how to support this mother's lactation once she
delivers?  What should I anticipate?
Thanks for your wisdom,
Julie Wood, MD, IBCLC

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