Jeanette,

Thanks for sharing the fun story of your learning about Japanese breast
massage!  It is still practiced from what my Japanese friends tell me.
However, the newer version by hospital nurses is not the same as the more
traditional method which I'm told is better.

The lymph drainage idea fits here and I also wonder if increased circulation
doesn't also result from the massage.  Sort of like exercise for the breast.
So, I wondered if it wouldn't respond better just like mothers with insulin
resistance do better with body exercise overall.  And we also have discussed
how excessive upper body exercise has caused breast fullness the following
day for some mothers....  I've wondered about adding arm exercises on  a
list of  ways to build milk supply :)

What spites me now is that even though I had 2 babies born in Japan with
Japanese health care providers and a  midwife for one, no one ever offered to
massage my breasts to help my milk come in.  If only I'd have known to ask!
(Maybe they would have if I'd have had trouble breastfeeding.)   Having
experienced the massage would have probably been the best way to learn!.

Enjoying the discussion,
Natalie Shenk, BS, IBCLC in Findlay Ohio

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