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Subject:
From:
Carol Brussel <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 30 Jul 2000 13:45:46 EDT
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i think of "women who truly can't breastfeed" as being those who physically
produce no milk or as jack explained it, not enough to breastfeed
exclusively. i have now seen three in just under two years of "official"
practice. all three uneventful, "perfect" homebirths, eagerly nursing babies,
etc., complete support of the midwives. good test cases! two of these moms
truly made only 4 - 5 ml., one, a fourth-time mom seems to make perhaps four
ounces in 24 hours. although it is true that these women all had breasts that
fit the infamous "category" described at length by my colleague here in
denver (tubular, widely spaced, etc.), i want to point out that i have seen
women with breasts like these make all the milk their babies need and more.

the crucial factor with all three of these was the absolute lack of breast
changes during pregnancy, and no engorgement after the birth.

so it looks like i have seen a lot, but looked at in the perspective of the
midwives, one delivered two of these mothers, has been practicing for about
20 years, and these are the only two she has ever seen. the other midwife has
had a shorter career but has not had this happen before, either.

there is an attraction to home birth for a mom who has had severe
breastfeeding difficulties, because they feel that in this way they might be
able to eliminate the factors that contributed heavily to their previous
problems, to the extent that it obscured whether or not they "made milk"
before. this was the case with two of the mothers. the other mother was a
primip. the two multips persevered much longer with "the program" to make
more milk than the primip; they were prepared for the possibility, and were
not surprised by the changes in their lives caused by the birth of the new
baby.

one had seen "lactation specialists" in another area with a previous baby and
was basically told there was nothing to be done, and that bothering with tube
feeding etc. was pointless and too much work.

the primip was talked into visiting a different "lactation specialist" than
me and was told that there was absolutely no possibility whatsoever that she
would ever make more milk; there was no point in taking herbs or drugs
(domperidone); that there was no point in continuing to try to build up her
milk despite the fact that she had increased her supply over the three weeks
since the birth by pumping, using the tube device, drugs, etc.; the tube
feeding device is "too difficult"; and so therefore it was basically hopeless
and here's some free formula.

you can see why despite intense support from me and from her midwives, her
motivation to continue declined after that point. you can see that perhaps i
should be in another profession.

carol brussel IBCLC

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