>>In her book, "Herbal Healing for Women", Rosamary Gladstar, one
of this country's best respected  herbalists states that vitex is used as a
birthing aid *and* to stimulate the flow of milk, as it is considered a
prolactin *stimulant*. This has been my personal experience with vitex, both
in using it myself and as reported to me by other mothers. She also states
that no side effects have been reported from extensive and extended use.<<


I actually deleted from my last post a comment applying to the above. In my
own web search, I found purportedly authoritative commentaries suggesting
contradictively that vitex was one or the other, a prolactin suppressant or
a prolactin stimulant. I do not know the truth on this topic, but did read
the explanations of each commentary carefully. A couple of years ago, Chris
Hafner-Eaton wrote a post explaining hypothetically how vitex/chasteberry
might potentially both promote or suppress milk supply. If she does not have
time to comment, I can re-post this for the list as I believe I saved her
post.

Another facet that I did not elaborate on previously is the whole question
of how directly prolactin levels impact milk supply. They are certainly
important to a degree, especially in the endocrine phase of production, yet
studies also show that there is no direct relationship between prolactin
levels and milk supply overall. I would love to do a study of women who were
hyperprolactinemic before conception and see what, if any, impact it has on
their milk supply; conversely, another study could be of the prolactin
levels of over-producing women.  How about a study on the effects of sage vs
vitex therapy for oversupply? My mind has been going on this topic for a
while, and I would love to see these various questions tackled in research.

Lisa Marasco, another interested non-expert

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