This is not a response to one particular post. I don't understand the
increasing use of reglan in the U.S. for low milk supply.  If we believe
that breastfeeding works and that only a minority of women(I have heard
as low as 1 to 2 per cent) are physically incapable of fully supplying
an infant with breast milk, then why are we using a chemical to increase
a milk supply?

Some of the women I have talked to who have used this drug were given
the impression that they physically could not produce milk so they
needed this drug.  And yet when they told me their medical history, what
I found was major separation from the baby in the hospital.  One I
remember very clearly was 5 days of separation..no pumping and she was
expected to have a decent milk supply?

If we believe relactation is possible and possible without drugs, why
would we need to use reglan except for a small percentage of cases?
What  are we doing psychologically to the mothers whose real problem of
low milk supply has everything to do with access to their babies and not
anything to do with an inability to produce milk?

I realize that mothers and those involved with her during the early days
of lactation maybe in a hurry to see results.  But even according to
Hale's Medications and Mother's Milk 1998, "it is often found that upon
discontinuing the medication, the supply of milk reduces."  Long term
use is not recommended for this drug. So what can you do for a mother
whose supply drops after discontinuing reglan?  At that point, a mother
may no longer believe that having lots of contact/lots of breastfeeds is
going to help her.  Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

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