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Subject:
From:
"Jan Barger RN, IBCLC" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 19 Aug 1998 12:42:53 EDT
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Diane W. quoted R&A:

<< "Small amounts of colostrum - averaging about 37 mL (range 7-123), are
 yielded in the first 24 hours postpartum (Hartmann and Prosser, 1984,
 Hartmann 1987);
 the infant ingests approximately 7 to 14 ML at each feeding (Houston, Howie,
 and McNeilly, 1983).  This milk yield gradually increases for the first 36
 hours, followed by a dramatic increase during the next 49 to 96 hours.  By
day
 five, volume is about 500 mL/day; it increases more slowly to about 750
 mL/day during months three to five of full breastfeeding, with a mean intake
 of about 800 mL/day at six months (Neville et al., 1988.)" >>

I think we have to be very quick to note that this is what the infant ingests
which is based at a BABY at the breast, not a plastic gizmo.  Most moms that I
see aren't expressing any more than drops -- and in the case of a preterm baby
-- often the drops are all she gets for 3 or 4 days.  The mom will often say
something to the effect of:  "I don't have anything.  Not even colostrum."
And the assumption is, of course, even if the baby was breastfeeding, he/she
wouldn't get anything -- because the pump, miracle of man, didn't get anything
out.  (Never, of course, is it the fault of technology -- it's always the
fault of her body).

Question:  assuming a mom starts pumping early on, and pumps effectively and
in a timely manner with a hospital grade pump, what accounts for the
variations in length of time before she produces an appreciable amount of
colostrum/milk?  Consider factors such as:

Never went into labor on own; was induced
Preterm
Repeat or scheduled C/Section
Very short labor

I wonder how important it is for early production of milk for the mom to have
had a reasonable amount of her own oxytocin circulating in her system?

I feel as though I've recently been seeing A LOT of women who have babies in
the NICU and are pumping for one reason or another that aren't producing
"anything" by the time they are discharged.  The milk comes in eventually, but
it seems to take so long.  And these aren't all ladies who have been induced &
are edematous to the eyebrows, either.

Jan Barger in cool Wheaton

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