In a message dated 98-01-22 19:25:47 EST, you write:

<<  My observation is that, yes, there
 are genuine cases of milk insufficiency.  I have occasionally worked with
 mothers right from the beginning who did all the right things, had no
 history of haemorrhage or Sx of retained placental fragments, were taking no
 meds that could suppress lactation, were nursing long and often, their
 babies were breastfeeding effectively and yet, with the highest motivation
 and effort, they simply did not produce enough milk >>

Would have to agree and from personal experience.  Had THE perfect birth with
Timothy....at home; thunderstorm, by candlelight (no electricity), midwife
didn't make it until 10 minutes after he arrived; music from the band concert
in the part wafting in the windows.... of course, no meds, no nothing.


Punkin couldn't nurse.  Didn't get it.  High palate, receding chin (can tuck a
quarter of a pb&j sandwich up there and still talk clearly.  Did all and
everything to get him to latch; finally did it at 5 days with the help of a
feeding tube & syringe.  Then he brfd long & often -- every hour for 40
minutes.  I watched game shows in the morning and read trashy novels in the
afternoon.  I pumped.  And fed.  And pumped.  No engorgement, not even
fullness.  Not enough milk.  Supplemented him.  Went back to work at 6 weeks
(part time) and pumped using the Egnell biggie.  (This is 13.5 years ago, mind
you).  the upshot of the whole thing is that on a good pumping i could get 3
ounces from the right side; zippo from the left.  Three drops on an excellent
pumping.  continued nursing and supplementing.  We finally went from 40
minutes every hour of feeding (unless he got syringe-fed) to 40 minutes every
2 hours.  Almost didn't know what to do with the extra time!!!  Ended up
breastfeeding (and supplementing) him for a year -- went to right sided
nursing only at 7 months -- what was the point?  I NEVER had more than 3 drops
from the left side.

And this is after have great bf success with the two girls who were 10- & 6
years older than he.  All I can think of is that my "advanced age" (38) had
something to do with it, since I couldn't find anything else.  That or the
mastitis I had when daughter number two was 3 weeks old -- but it only
minimally decreased supply in the left side for her, and she was exclusively
breastfed until I went back to work at 11 weeks.

Go figure.  but it is one of those situations in which everything looked
right, sounded right, was right -- but something was wrong.  His suck wasn't
wonderful (based on high palate), but OTOH, with pumping, something should
have happened and it didn't.  If I had gotten even half on the left as what I
got on the right (great sentence structure there), it wouldn't have been so
odd.

Oh well, Timothy is my unplanned blessing that turned me from a midwife into
an LC.  So, here I am -- otherwise, I'd be part of the ACNM by now.

sigh.

I've never regretted it.  Well, only some days....

Jan Barger, in snowy Wheaton.