Subject: Re: Men who breastfeed (next on Oprah..) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 1994 18:25:21 GMT Subj

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: bartmess@utkvx.utk.edu (John Bartmess)
Subject: Re: Men who breastfeed (next on Oprah..)
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 1994 18:25:21 GMT

Subject: Re: Men Who Breastfeed? (Next on Oprah)

My SO is a Certified Lactation Consultant, head of La Leche 
League's National Research Review Committee, wrote her Ph.D. 
thesis on breastfeeding, and re-lactated for an adopted baby six 
years after nursing our first-born. Hence, I think she may have 
some definitive answers here.

She says:
1. relactation in a woman, long after having had a baby, without 
another childbirth or hormones, is viable in many mothers, perhaps 
more than half who try. A full supply of milk is rare, but a 1/4-
1/2 supply is often obtained. Stimulation (over weeks to months) 
by use of a breast pump is often sufficient to establish a milk 
supply.

2. lactation by a woman who has never been pregnant is actually 
comparable in difficulty. Many cases are known.

3. Male lactation: there are cases reported in the anthro 
literature in tribal groups where men routinely pacify babies at the 
breast. Some men have lactated to some extent due to puititary tumors, 
drugs (e.g. high doses of reglan) and other situations (associated 
with prolactin production).

- Also, there are rare cases where both men and women have 
lactated very quickly because of emergency situations (starving 
baby, no other food source).
- Male breast infections and breast cancer are known.
- Babies, both male and female, at birth will occasionally have a 
few drops of milk ooze from their nipples; this was referred to as 
"witch's milk".

Two good source books: 
"Breast Feeding and Human Lactation,": Jan Riordan & Kathy Auerbach 1993
"Breastfeeding: a Guide for the Medical Profession," 3rd Ed. Ruth 
Lawrence 1989