Hi Everyone,
I have been asked by a mother I know to find out more about her problem
with breastfeeding her first baby, and would appreciate some info and
suggestions, since she would love to be able to breastfeed her next baby
but doesn't know if it's even worth trying :-(

F- conceived normally and had a perfectly normal, healthy pregnancy.
However, for an unknown reason, she experienced spontaneous rupture of
the membranes at 35 weeks and delivered the baby within seconds (2
contractions). At birth, the baby breathed reasonably well and had an
AGPAR of about 6, which rose rapidly. His weight was just a touch over
6lbs. The baby was taken to NICU in view of his precipitous birth, but
only for observation and seemed to do well.

Being 35 weeks, no one was surprised he had a rather poor suck, so he
was tube fed ABM while his mother was encouraged to try and pump.
However, after 3 days of pumping with a hospital grade pump, and
frequent cuddling and putting the baby to the breast, F- had absolutely
no milk. No a drop. Also, she had no breast changes and reported no
breast changes in pregnancy either. She continued to try and pump for a
further week, hoping that something would happen, but it never did. She
was advised to give up and solely ABM feed.

Unfortunately, like my friend E-, this baby is also not thriving on ABM
and is severely allergic even to hypoallergenic formulas. He is
officially diagnosed as "Failure to thrive", but no one can pin-point
the exact cause. F- is a friend of E-, and she is also thinking about
relactation, but I think she suspects she is not a good candidate, so is
mainly focussing on the next baby. She very much needs to know *why*
this has happened and would be thrilled to be able to breastfeed another
baby in future.

I know that the total inability to produce milk is rare, but as I said
to F- myself, just because it's rare doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I
have offered to try and discover any information I can, or any questions
I can ask F- to ascertain possible causes. Just something to point us in
the right direction would help, so we can make a start.
--
Anna (mummy to Emma, born 17th Jan 1995 and Alice, born 11th Sept 1996)
Email: [log in to unmask]  Web Page: http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna