OK, this is going to be a lot of info, so bear with me.

Mother has a history of two previous pregnancies both ending in preterm 
births - one at 29.5 weeks, one at 34 weeks.  She is currently almost 13 
weeks pregnant with #3.  Baby #2 is 18 months old and is still nursing 
frequently(6+ times a day?).  Baby #2 is showing clear signs of not being 
ready emotionally to wean.  Mother is very worried that her doctor is going 
to "require" her to stop nursing soon.  She will be having a cerclage placed 
for incompetent cervix within the next two weeks and the plan at this point 
is to also start 17P injections at 17 weeks gestation.

From what I have read, the link between nipple stimulation and preterm labor 
is thought to be related to too many oxytocin receptors in the uterus. 
Normally, naturally created progesterone blocks those extra receptors until 
the baby is near term.

That said, I have two questions to throw out there:

1) Will the administration of the injected 17P 
(17-alpha-hydroxy-progesterone-caproate) block those supposed "extra" 
oxytocin receptors making this pregnancy more like a "regular" pregnancy 
than a high-risk one?

2) Any thoughts on what the impact of the 17P on both the milk supply and 
the nursling would be?  The drug isn't listed in Hale's book, nor have I 
found any other information about it's impact on a nursing mom.  It had been 
suggested that the 17P would probably cause the elimination of what is left 
of the milk supply, but does anyone know if it would be any different to a 
nursling than any other form of progesterone?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

-Christine Hood
instructor, BirthMatters!
Rochester, NY 

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