With reference to why mother should wean due to I-131 tx, here is part
of one paragraph excerpted from Hale 2004:

"Due to the fact that significant concentrations of I-131 are
concentrated in breastmilk, women should discontinue breastfeeding prior
to treatment, as the cumulative exposure to breast tissues could be
excessively high.  It is sometimes recommended that women discontinue
breastfeeding several days to weeks before undergoing therapy or that
they pump and discard milk for several weeks after exposure to iodine to
reduce the overall radioactive exposure to breast tissues."

I understand how weaning *prior* to therapy would reduce exposure of
breast tissues to the I-131, but it seems to me that pumping and dumping
would only reduce baby's exposure, not the exposure of  the mother's
breast tissues. Pump and dump might work with other forms of iodine,
according to the information in Hale. Anybody here seen the references
Hale uses for this?

Flossie Rollhauser, IBCLC, RLC



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