I have been reading over some of Peter Hartmann's articles about
storage capacity and milk synthesis.  It's truly fascinating how
wonderous our bodies are!

Anyway, what I've drawn from his work is that there is a tremendous
variation in how much milk a woman can store.  That women who store
less can still meet the needs of their babies if they feed their
babies more often, than a woman who can store a ton of milk between
feeds.  Kind of goes a long way in explaning why some women *can*
Babywise their kids, and for others it can be exceedingly dangerous.

So I got to thinking, what about when a mom works full time?  My thought
would be then, that a lower storage capacity mom would need to pump more
often than a high capacity woman.  I have known some women who could
pump out 8 ounces with a silly old formula company pump, where others
work excruciatingly hard to pump out 2 ounces with a hosptial grade
pump.  One such woman I knew pumped in the AM before she left for
work, 3-4 times per day at work and then at night after baby went
to bed in order to meet her babies needs.  You could just see her face
drop when others would speak of how much they could pump. Any tips
for these types of moms?  I know the usual type info, like relaxation,
bending over and shaking your breasts, massage, etc... Is it getting
more let-downs that will help these women then?

Thanks in advance

Wendy Funk, epidemiologist in MCH