Some personal experience on this issue:

I am currently taking estrogen-containing contraceptives for this
purpose.  My midwife swore up and down that "it reduces your supply but
then the baby just goes on frequency days like they're having a growth
spurt and they bring your supply right back up" but she was dead wrong. 
I have OSS/OALD so much that this baby (#3, now 16 months old) frequently
got very angry and went on nursing strikes, even though we were nursing
in an almost flat position.  The foreceful letdown, painful letdown, and
leaking totally went away after I started the patch.  It did decrease my
supply so much (totally subjective estimate on my part is it cut my
supply in half) that it is really more than I wanted, but it was (and
continues to be) enough to meet her needs.  I find that my letdown takes
much longer (sometimes as much as 5-10 minutes depending on how
frequently she's been nursing) and that she does not get milk every time
she nurses, but I didn't start until she was about 7 months old so that
has never really bothered her.

Tasneem Jennifer Crooker
LLL Leader, Norman, OK, USA
LLLI Global Publications:  Arabic

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