Several years ago I was confronted for the first time with a woman who
had hx of epilepsy who wanted to breastfeed and a neurologist who
nixed the idea. At the time, being younger and less jaded I figured the
neurologist simply didn't have access to the wealth of information that I
had (Ruth Lawrence, LLLI, etc) so I gave the woman copies of articles
on epilepsy and bf to give to the neurologist. The next day I got a call
from the woman--she was in tears--the neurologist refused to read the
information and dismissed her saying "I'm washing my hands of you if
you bf your baby! And don't come crying to me if you have a seizure and
kill your baby by throwing it through a wall!" I cried, too!

At that time I contacted LLLI main office (wish I could remember details
and be more exact) and they contacted several LLL mothers with
epilepsy who, in turn, called my patient. She was overwhelmed and
buoyed by the support she received--from women hundreds of miles
from here. She went on to bf for several months (she left our practice so
I lost touch).

Since that time I have had other women with epilepsy bf with the support
of their neurologists. In fact, one of the neurologists in our practice came
to me for help with her baby--and she, in turn, went so far as to suggest
ordering donor milk when it was suggested that one of her patients
needed to supplement the baby for a few days to rule out sedation
effects of seizure meds.  Most of the time women with seizure disorders
are on medications while pregnant (when the drugs are much more
dangerous for the fetus) and breastfeeding avoids "withdrawal"
symptoms in the baby.  The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (at least the
older edition I have) provides practical advice for moms with epilepsy.

Dr. Lawrence ("Breastfeeding, A Guide for the Medical Profession")
points out the importance of stimulating the milk supply with pumping if
baby is too sleepy to suckle well at first. Dr. Lawrence also provides info
on several seizure meds. In fact, Dr. Lawrence lists the telephone
number for her Lactation Study Center/ Physician information--I would
give that info to the neurologists. (Ok--I'm older and maybe wiser but
hope springs eternal...)

Good luck. There are many resources in this area--I just hope the MDs
involved will be open minded.

Margery Wilson, IBCLC
Massachusetts Institute of Technology