LACTNET Archives

Lactation Information and Discussion

LACTNET@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Laura Spitzfaden <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 6 Jan 2012 11:32:32 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (23 lines)
I just had a helping call which may have included some information that could help a mom of triplets.  I have permission to post.

This mom called me because her milk supply had decreased over the holiday due to being busy and putting off nursing, a very common call.  She was very concerned that she was losing her supply.  What was unusual about this mom was that she pumped after each feed because she wanted to be sure to have plenty of milk and she was now "only" able to pump 3 ounces after feeding rather than 6-8 ounces after a feed (10 ounces first thing in the morning).  Her baby only nursed for 5 minutes at a time and she would offer a bottle a half hour after a feed and could usually get baby to take another half ounce to an ounce.  This baby gained two pounds over birth weight by her first month check-up.

One reason her supply was so robust may be because she pumped regularly for the last three months of pregnancy.  I asked her why she had chosen to do this and her reply was that she was trying to avoid the problems she had with her previous children and low supply.  This is only one mom and I think it would be rare to find someone who had actually pumped this long before birth to test this theory but I found the pumping before birth and very large milk supply correlation very intriguing.

This was her third baby and she had problems with supply with her first two so had been very proactive about managing her supply.  She just didn't realize that she was making so much more than baby needed.  I figured out that she had been making enough for triplets.  I gave her info about full drainage and block feeding and how to latch deeply.  She mentioned that baby didn't latch deeply and just sort of hung out and swallowed what came her way.  I gave her info about tongue-tie due to her history of low supply with her other babies and so that she could watch for any latching and milk transfer issues when her supply was lower.   I let her know that any baby would take more from a bottle even if they weren't necessarily hungry and that her baby was gaining very well.

A triplet pregnancy might be such that expressing milk before labor wouldn't be the best idea, but if her HCP thought it would be okay, this might help her to quickly build a milk supply and would give her some colostrum for the babies after birth.  I would certainly share with her the information about hand expressing at least six times a day starting by no later than 6 hours after birth and continuing until milk supply increased.  For some moms, this early milk removal makes all the difference to a full supply.  I would think a mom of multiples would really benefit from this.

-Laura Spitzfaden, LLLL, IBCLC

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome

ATOM RSS1 RSS2