Beth, under no circumstance would I recommend a pregnant women who is not
already nursing a toddler to pump her breasts. The risk of preterm contraction,
labor and preterm birth is just too high.
Many women who nurse toddlers, it is believed, become "immune" to their own
oxytocin (this is a simple way to explain a complicated function) but not all do.
A woman whose body is NOT nursing a toddler would NOT be used to this
intense breast stimulation, and not only would expressing her milk increase her
risk of preterm labor (and she may not even feel it until it is too late) but will
only cause MORE fullness in the breasts.
My advice is to ask the Mom to stop pumping, expressing ect IMMEDIATELY,
and use cold compresses for any fullness.
There was a thread about nursing toddlers and oxytocin response, and I
posted a story about MY struggle with the horrors of preterm labor, bed rest,
fear for my babies lives, doing everything in my power to avoid my babies
being born early and being admitted to the NICU.
This Mom has already had a hard time getting pregnant, a preterm birth, or,
heaven forbid a loss would be terrible. Worse, IMO, than some breast fullness.
I know some people always shoot back with the idea that some midwives use
a breast pump to get labor started or regulated. However, this is for a full term
birth, a baby who is ready to be born, not a 28 week pregnancy, and some
midwives I know refuse to use this method, due to the intense contractions
that pumping can cause some women.
Mary Jozwiak IBCLC, RLC, LLLL
Private Practice
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