Hi, again

Fiona wrote:

>So, I can sort of see the image of "quencher" milk.  Almost water (lots
>of mineral salts probably?).  I've always referred to foremilk (or
>perhaps quencher milk IS a better term, LOL) as "Baby's natural
>Gatorade" (or pedialyte!).

I can see that this is just part of the grand continuum of breast milk. The
problem comes in Ms Hogg's description:

>) Quencher. This is simply what it says, and does no more than whets your
baby's palate; imagine it as being no more than water. If all you drank was
water you would lose weight, and probably would only be able to sustain
your life for a short span.

There is a vast difference in your description of nearly clear fluid full
of various (and important) electrolytes and other important stuff and her
description of it being little more than water. I have this vision of moms
reading this and deciding to pump and dump the junk milk so that all baby
gets is the hind milk. Her description also perpetuates the myth that these
are separate and distinct kinds of milk--something like choosing different
grade gasolenes for you car from different pumps! If I was to rewrite my
article now, I would emphasize and make clear that this is a continuum and
not separate kinds of milk. I did imply that, but didn't specifically state
it as such. (My article was written in 1995)

In any case, she has not done moms any favors with her descriptions. If
this quencher milk does exist, it exists because there is an important
reason for it to be there as part of an overall good meal at the breast.
Mother Nature's smarter than Ms Hogg gives her credit for!

Melissa


Melissa Vickers, IBCLC
Lactation Consultant for iParenting's Breastfeed.com
<http://breastfeed.com/experts/panel/mcvickers.htm>
mailto:[log in to unmask]

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