I am reviewing my A&P of the breast for a presentation I am giving, and came across the following fact from Bf&HL: "Placental hormones enter fetal circulation and stimulate formation of channels of the branched epithilial tissue. This process continues until the fetus is 32 weeks old. From 32 to 40 weeks' gestation, lobular-alveolar structures containing colostrum develop." My question is this: If a female infant is born at 30-31 weeks and survives, so did not have the placental hormones to stimulate development-will that female develop functional breast tissue and be able to lactate as an adult? This may be a stupid question, I have no knowledge of embyology, but I am wondering if we will start seeing more women who have breastfeeding problems as a result of their embryonic development(as these very premie infants reach adulthood). Will our lactation histories have to include asking what the mother's gestational age was at birth? Just wondering... My grey cells are overheating. Diana _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html