Hi,
I hesitated to ask you about this because I was nervous of breaching
confidentiality (yes, I know I am not a trained LC, but I still think I
have to be careful). The lady concerned in this sorry tale in
considering getting a breastfeeding counsellor on to the problem, but is
still nervously "thinking" about it. I feel she will take the plunge
soon, but she needs a lot of support to "make that call".

Her baby is currently about 5 mo. When the baby was born by emergency
section, the mother wanted to breastfeed but received no support (and I
mean *no* support - she didn't even know cradle hold wasn't the only
hold to bf a baby in). After 2 days, the baby was hungry and dehydrated
and the mother feeling extremely ill due to infections and a painful
wound. In desparation, she allowed the nurses to take her baby into the
nursery and bottle feed her. By the time she went home, the baby's latch
was appalling, her nipples were ragged and sore and the baby was losing
weight. Like many mothers in this situation, she was advised that
breastfeeding was obviously too difficult for her and she should
bottlefeed. This she did, with a heavy heart, but believed her baby
would do fine on the bottle.

Sadly, this is far from the case. The baby gradually developed eczema,
had permenant diarrhoea and vomited up most feeds. She was taking up to
50 fl oz a day, but in 16 weeks she gained 4 oz on her birthweight. At 8
weeks, the doctors advised starting the baby on solids, in an attempt to
get her to gain weight. It failed miserably, and the baby's eczema got
worse. After many tests, it was decided the baby was allergic to all
dairy and she was put onto soya. That was a few weeks ago. Since then,
the baby has lost 1/2 lb and her eczema is now so bad it's bleeding. It
has now been confirmed that the baby is even more severely allergic to
soya. They tried hypoallergenic formula. The baby nearly had to be
hospitalised due to the vomiting that induced. Their latest theory is
that the baby has pyloric stenosis on top of severe food allergies. The
mother is desperate and frantic with worry. She has lost all confidence
in her doctors and I think she is seriously concerned her baby might
die. I find it hard to believe she is exaggerating this fear, and my
empty reassurances about "I am sure the doctors are doing their best"
etc. are pointless - she doesn't honestly believe that anymore :-( To
add insult to injury, they have refused her permission to get human milk
from the human milk bank at a nearby hospital - they say the milk is too
precious and her situation isn't "serious enough". I'd like to know what
they do consider "serious enough"! (vent)

So now, the mother believes that relactation is probably her baby's last
hope. I know very little about it, but have shown her all I know from my
books. Conversations with various breastfeeding counsellor friends has
given me various opinions from it is relatively easy, provided she is
looking at pumping and bottle-feeding EBM at the start; to the belief
that it is really difficult and may not be possible. She thinks pumping
and bottle-feeding EBM sounds feasible and it quite enthusiastic about
that idea, but I am afraid to be too encouraging due to fears of giving
her false hope.

At present, her worries are:-
How long will it take to get her milk back and how difficult is this
likely to be? Is it possible to give her baby enough EBM to keep her
going? Is it going to be a problem that the baby is allergic to
allergens in her milk (her Ped says this is a far smaller problem than
at present, and not to worry about it)? What are the chances of teaching
the baby to directly nurse? And if that is not possible, how can she
keep her supply up and sustained?

If anyone knows *anything* about this, she would value your input. I am
sure the two BCs I have recommended, although experienced, would also be
interested in any ideas people have. I would really like to be able to
email someone who's actually done this, or has a client who has
relactated in such circumstances. Perhaps there is a book somewhere
about this or maybe a Web page.

As you probably understand, this is a desperate situation. I do hope it
is appropriate to post it here - I have the lady's permission. Btw, she
is not on the Net herself.
--
Anna (mummy to Emma, born 17th Jan 1995 and Alice, born 11th Sept 1996)
Email: [log in to unmask]  Web Page: http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna