kirsten, i have a few thoughts. this lady sounds pretty sick and may, in fact, be in a precarious calcium balance. however, i would not think that bf was absolutely contraindicated. if she is on dialysis daily then she could easily be monitored for her levels. i am not really familiar w/ the ins and outs of dialysis, but could calcium levels be adjusted (added if needed?) per the dialysis process? the calcium requirements are not so much higher for lactation. she is being managed in pregnancy, right? it should also be taken into account, how mother will care for/mother her infant in the face of such health problems and dialysis visits. surely, bf is an easy to do (physically) process, allowing the mother much rest and less trips to the market/grocery store and better health for her infant. the pros and cons should be presented to mother (factual) and she decides and then can be monitored. Good luck to this family. <<History of chronic renal failure, metabolic bone disease, and parathyroidectomy. She's been on dialysis for 4 years. ...she tells me the ob, paed and renal physician have all told her NOT to breastfeed because the calcium requirements for lactation are too much for her - she tends to be hypocalcaemic..>> Laurie Wheeler, IBCLC, MN, RN New Orleans Louisiana, s.e. USA _________________________________________________________________ Watch LIVE baseball games on your computer with MLB.TV, included with MSN Premium! http://join.msn.com/?page=features/mlb&pgmarket=en-us/go/onm00200439ave/direct/01/ *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html