Hopefully this doesn't go to the list twice--I posted a reply this morning and it hasn't appeared, so I thought I would try again.

The research was done by Hartmann's team. I saw it presented at a 2006 conference by LLL of Georgia by Leon Mitoulas, one of the researchers, during his session, "Breast Volume and Milk Production Druing Extended Lactation in Women."  They used computerized breast measurements to measure volume and storage capacity before pregnancy, during pregnancy, during lactation and after weaning. They also kept data on milk production.

Breasts *practically* don't shrink, but there was some very slight change--nothing like what the mothers perceived. The information you are asking about was obtained as a side effect of what they were really researching, which was any relationship between breast size to storage capacity and milk production. I remember him throwing up a slide with a graph from their research illustrating how the breast mass was practically the same size before pg and after weaning, but the slides were not reproduced in my syllabus, so I cannot give any further details.

Peter Hartmann also referenced this finding during one of his sessions that weekend, but it was a "by the way" kind of comment, probably during his "Breast Anatomy and Milk Ejection" session.

Chrissy Bodin

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome