Dear Becky:  The breasts that you describe have been described by
Marianne Neifert (I believe she is the Director of the Lactation Center
at Denver St. Luke's Presbyterian).  She spoke about her findings at a
LLL/AAP Physicians' seminar two years ago.  Her findings have been a
subject of some controversy, because she estimated that 1-5% of mothers
have these hypoplastic breasts, but others have disputed this.  Action
for Corporate Accountability had disputed the number in a recent
newsletter, quoting Miriam Labbok (at Georgetown Lactation Center) as
estimating that only 1 in 2000 women cannot physiologically produce
milk.  I wrote to Miriam Labbok to get specifics on her data, but have
not heard back from her as yet.  You say that you see about 3 a year in a
hospital with 1200 births, so 1 in 400.  I have personally examined much
more than 2000 women's breasts and can't remember more than 1 or 2 that
had that appearance.  My own personal opinion is that Dr. Neifert's
observations were made on a population who by mere fact of coming to a
lactation center were more likely to be having problems, therefore her
incidence would be higher than what would be seen in the general population.
Hope that helps.  Alicia.  [log in to unmask]