> He told me that as a nursing mother giving off fluids:  urine, feces and breast
>milk, I was in grave danger of becoming excessively dehydrated and having my
>electrolites out of balance.  I had been on his mind as being in danger.

I wonder.  Every nursing mother I've ever encountered who's had more than
brief vomiting or diarrhea has called *because her supply has dropped*.  I
think this doctor is picturing a parasitic milk supply, sapping the mother
of her fluids to produce copious milk while she herself shrivels
away.  In my experience, our bodies aren't that foolish.  My favorite story
is of the toddler mom whose whole family succumbed to food poisoning from a
wedding reception.  Her 18 month old greatly appreciated nursing for
comfort, but did so with a glass of water and straw nearby, so he could
alternate nursing at mom's depleted breast with better fluid intake.  Once
they all recovered, nursing returned to normal.

This doctor's extreme caution in the face of run of the mill runs may be
another example of cultural fear of breastfeeding by less than perfectly
healthy women.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html