I've done an achive search for the past two years but felt this question
was still not necessarily answered.
LC friend spoke to a mother on the phone, then rang me asking for more
information. I'll get the facts as straight as I can - email me questions
please if I've missed something vital.

Mother told after delivering 4th baby that her vaginal wall had
'deteriorated' by 25%. After 5th baby was now 75% and she now needs an A-P
repair and a total hysterectomy. (I take it she has prolapses of bowel,
bladder and uterus).  Her baby is 8 months old and the surgeon says he
won't do the surgery until she has weaned because continuing to breastfeed
will cause further ?deterioration or ?failure to repair adequately. She has
never done any pelvic floor conditioning and has never been assessed by a
physiotherapist - in particular the ones who specialise in incontinence and
the pelvic floor.  ?Maybe too late now anyway.

She doesn't want to wean her baby but the problem does sound pretty serious
for her.

My thought processes deducted that he (the surgeon) must want her to wean
to increase the oestrogen levels - can't see any other reason why he would
care. Or he may be planning to put her onto oestrogen replacement therapy
and thinks it precludes breastfeeding.
I remember reading many moons ago a study from India where women were
prescribed the combined oral contraceptive pill after their babies were 6
months old, and it had no/?minimal detrimental effect on breastfeeding - I
think it may have been published in Breastfeeding Review.  If this is so
would it be possible for her to take oestrogen replacement therapy and
continue to breastfeed - or are the doses required too high?

I know the surgery and recovery will not be a walk in the park, but are
there any other reasons why this mother couldn't continue to breastfeed?

Thanks very much
Denise
****************************************************
Denise Fisher, BN, RM, IBCLC
BreastEd Online Lactation Studies Course
http://www.breasted.com.au
mailto:[log in to unmask]
****************************************************

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