I remember seeing photographs at a conference actually showing fat droplets clinging to the duct walls before MER and then the same duct walls cleared of the fat globules after MER.  It makes perfect physiological sense.  It also make perfect sense that in the case of very frequent short feeds (the biologic norm) that the fat would have little time to adhere to the duct walls and thus be more evenly distributed throughout the feed.

That said, we are usually not dealing with this scenario and are not likely to ever, on a widespread basis.  I think that as soon as humans began to develop a culture, then those cultures began to have an influence on all activities, including  parenting and breastfeeding.  The belief that up until a relatively short time ago all humans were feeding their infants according to this biologic norm is an idalic fantasy, IMHO. 

We need to help mothers be successful where they are at.  Knowing the physiology helps us to help them to devise a plan which is most likely to be successful dependent on their individual circumstances.  Telling a mother that ideally she should be nursing up to 60 times a day is usually counterproductive.  Helping her to understand that human babies need to nurse "frequently" is helpful.  For professionals, knowledge gives us the power to be more effectives providers.  For some moms, this same knowledge is a comfort, reinforcing instincts that they already had.  But I think for many mothers, this same knowledge would be overwhelming in a negative sense.  Most of us can tell pretty quickly which camp a mother falls into and adjust our counsel accordingly.  For those who are new to this field and inexperienced in counseling, I would caution to be careful when and how you share some information with new mothers or mothers-to-be.


Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
mailto:[log in to unmask]





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