Hello all!


One of our local breastfeeding support group leader phoned and asked me
this question: can a mother still get a good milk supply by pumping if she
has received  a medication to stop milk production? I did not know but
promised to ask the question here. For now on we have told the mother to
pump as much she feels right for her and freeze the milk for the baby if
he/she ever can have anything by mouth.

I dont know all the details since I did not talk with the mother myself.
The mother gave birth by c-section yesterday or the day before yesterday.
The baby is at 31 + week and weighted only 800 - 900 grams. The baby has
some (serious?) heart failure and was transported to Finlands leading
childrens hospital. The heart problem apparently has a poor prognosis so
the HCP told the mother to take the medication to stop milk production
because she should only concentrate to cope with this situation. She took
those (probably Parlodel bromocriptine?) yesterday and now after thinking
all night she regrets and would like to pump milk for her baby since it is
the only thing she can do for he/she.

What do you think? If woman can start milk production only by pumping so
one might think that by regular pumping one could reverse the affect of
milk-stopping medication. We would not like to give false hope and much
work to the mother if the situation is hopeless i.a.w if you know for sure
that it is impossible to achieve good milk supply after Parlodel.

Hoping to hear something as soon as possible! I am so sad and angry that
some one could think he/she has a right to decide this kind of action
without giving mother enough time to think about it first.

Sadly,
Pia Ruohotie, RN, breastfeeding educator and mother-to-mother bf support
group leader
mother of two daughters (returned to work after 5,5 years at home a couple
months ago)
from Helsinki, Finland

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