Hi, all. I got a phone call today from an LLL Leader working with a mother who
has been active in her group for a long time. The mom is 36 and has 3 children,
20yo twins and a 2yr (with years of infertility in between). Her mother died at
age 44 of breast cancer, so her dr told her that she had to immediately wean her
2yo, wait 3 months and have a mammogram. In the meantime, she was having
problems with a prolapsed uterus and incontinence and apparently was serious
enough that one of 2 drs she saw recommended a hysterectomy. She wants more
kids, so this was not a welcome treatment. The 2nd dr recommended trying a brace
of some kind instead of surgery to see if that would take care of the problem.
When she went in for the brace (after having abruptly weaned the 2yo--who was
not happy about it at all--3 months earlier), the dr checked her out again and
said that everything was tightening up nicely and he saw no need for brace or
surgery. She told him she had just weaned her 2yo. The dr's response was "Oh,
that explains it. Breastfeeding causes the uterus and bladder to relax."  Mom
was wondering why nobody had ever told her this, and Leader was wondering how to
respond. I didn't see anything in the latest Ruth Lawrence, and in Riordan &
Auerbach, which to me is an indication that IF this is truly a cause and effect
situation that it does not happen very often. It seems to run contrary to all
the information that is readily available about at least the early bf helping to
contract the uterus.

I wonder if the infertility problems (unspecified) could either explain the
condition to begin with, or even explain the tie-in with bf--if there is one.
The fact that things did tighten up after weaning at least gives reason to ask
the question. But if her hormones were already not functioning normally as far
as the fertility goes, could that have affected the body's response to bf?

Anybody ever heard of anything like this?

Thanks!

Melissa Vickers, IBCLC