I have an interesting case history (actually an old college friend).  This
36 year old primagravida delivered  a 5lb and 10? oz baby at 36 weeks.
Mother has a 10+ year history of back pain and developed unilateral leg pain
in the hip and down the leg while pregnant.  The type and location of pain
she describes sounds like sciatica but her doctor said it wasn't.   After
delivery the baby had a good suck and initially gained weight.
Unfortunately two  complications developed.  First baby's weight gain began
to  falter.   She was nursing the baby 8 times a day for 40 minutes (20 on
each side).  Due to the poor  weight gain, she was advised to  limit her
nursing to 10 minutes each side and then supplement with formula.  I asked
her what the rational was and she didn't really know but offered that maybe
the physician wanted to know how much the baby would take.  She did this for
3 days and then returned to fully nursing for a week.  After a week baby was
still not gaining, etc., so she returned to nursing and supplementation
finally giving up at 8 weeks.
The second complication is what is most interesting.  While nursing her baby
or while pumping her back and leg pain became exacerbated.  The exacerbation
was directly linked to sucking/pumping.  If baby was at the breast sucking,
the pain was worse.  If baby was at breast resting the pain was better.  She
describes nursing sessions that were so painful that they necessitated
constant movement and change of position to tolerate the feedings.  No
position was more comfortable  than another.  She was told she could take
ibuprofen for pain control and that it was not possible that the nursing was
exacerbating her pain.
Please comment on the treatment for failure to gain, pain control and the
exacerbation of back/leg  pain directly linked to sucking.  I would like to
copy the answer s and send to the client.  The client is interested in any
possible explanation and would like to share all  the information with her
pediatrician.  Thank you,
Christine Betzold

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html