# Low supply hereditary?



## caro113 (Aug 25, 2008)

I was just talking to my mother about milk supply issues and she told me that it's hereditary. Now I don't know that I believe that at all since I never heard anything along those lines, but she told me that she couldn't breastfeed, nor could her sister, nor could their mother. So I'm curious. Is it possible there is so truth to this?


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

It's within the realm of possibility, but it's not the most likely explanation. If people can be born with lungs that don't work, kidneys the don't work, legs that don't work, or a brain that doesn't work, certainly, it's possible to be born with breasts that don't work or don't work properly, but my understanding is that it's extremely rare.

Most women who think that they didn't produce enough milk were operating with bad information though... they weren't nursing frequently enough, baby had latch issues or a poor suck reflex, mom didn't wait long enough for her milk to come in, mom didn't have access to other women who had nursed and could offer advice and support, etc. A generation ago really was a dark age for breastfeeding too. There was so much bad info circulating in the 60s and 70s.


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## caro113 (Aug 25, 2008)

I completely agree with you. My mother was born in the 60s and my cousin in the 70s. My aunt was born in the 40s though, so I really thought my grandmother would have had a better support system and better information then, but who knows.
I'm not sure about my grandmother or my aunt, but I know my mother's period came back 9mo PP with me and mine came back 6wks PP (I thought it may have just been more PP bleeding, but it's been coming regularly since then). It really hurt when I got my period back because DD was on exclusive breast milk. She nursed most of the time, but sometimes, due to my nipples just hurting way too much, I pumped for her instead. But I also had an over supply, like to the point where I was sort of tandem nursing, with her on one boob and the pump on the other. And that over supply was great when I was really sick for a day and half and just needed to sleep all day long. DP was able to take the baby out for a few hours and not worry about her being hungry. I suspect that's part of the reason why my supply decreased, but then I think about working mothers who pump once or twice a day, and obviously not every two to three hours, and they seem to be fine. So I dunno.
Thanks for reassuring me. I take most of what she says about pregnancy and breastfeeding with a grain of salt .. sadly. Thanks again!


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## mum21andtwins (Nov 8, 2007)

nah unlikely imo my mum & gran both didn't "have enough" and most people their age say similar things so my mum came carrying bottles when ds was born








yet here I am nearly 5 yrs later ds1 weaned 3 months ago on his own and the twins (18m) are still going strong


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## smanore (Sep 14, 2007)

In the past I would have agreed with previous posts, however, newer research seems to indicate that for some women there is a family component to low milk supply. I think it might be due to something that affects the hormone level that is passed on. Considering that diabetes can have a hereditary link, and this can affect supply (insulin resistance), it would explain the possibility. I've heard of families where moms have PCOS, and so do other family members. This can often affect supply as well. I've really been looking into these family links and find it all fascinating. Frustrating, but fascinating.
With all that said though, many, many people think they don't have enough milk, and instead, they just didn't have the support, or help needed to keep nursing.


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## MaryJaneLouise (Jul 26, 2005)

Since no one knows what causes low supply, it's hard to say. Certain conditions like IGT and PCOS may be hereditary, but even that is kind of tenuous.


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## MaryJaneLouise (Jul 26, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *smanore* 
In the past I would have agreed with previous posts, however, newer research seems to indicate that for some women there is a family component to low milk supply. I think it might be due to something that affects the hormone level that is passed on. Considering that diabetes can have a hereditary link, and this can affect supply (insulin resistance), it would explain the possibility. I've heard of families where moms have PCOS, and so do other family members. This can often affect supply as well. I've really been looking into these family links and find it all fascinating. Frustrating, but fascinating.
With all that said though, many, many people think they don't have enough milk, and instead, they just didn't have the support, or help needed to keep nursing.

What research have you been reading? Do you have a link or citation?


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## foreverinbluejeans (Jun 21, 2004)

According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF virtually all women can breastfeed. Think about it - women breastfeed in conditions we can't imagine. Women are able to breastfeed when they are starving, living in a war zone, living in extreme temperatures, different relious beliefs, ect.

Many of the women who say they can't breastfeed know they really didn't try hard enough. That's why the topic is so difficult for them.


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## Claire and Boys (Mar 27, 2007)

My sister tried to tell me when I was pregnant with my first that I would not be able to breastfeed as my mum switched with me at 9 weeks due to poor weight gain and grandma apparently had no milk at all.

However I have had no problems. Recently my mum found the growth chart from when I was born and actually my weight gain was fine - half a pound a week, but there was one week which was less, maybe 3 or 4 oz that week and rather than having her wait and see what happened the next week before freaking out they got her to switch to formula right away. The other reason she thought she had low supply was because I used to cry a lot in the evenings. Rather than nursing me she would bounce me around for hours as she thought babies should only be fed every 3 hours (And tried to tell me this with my own children, which I didn't listen to) When I explained cluster feeding to her she was surprised and wished someone had told her that when I was a baby.

As for Grandma she was chronically ill most of her life and pretty much constantly pregnant. I would not have been surprised if her health was as a factor in her milk supply problems.


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *smanore* 
In the past I would have agreed with previous posts, however, newer research seems to indicate that for some women there is a family component to low milk supply. I think it might be due to something that affects the hormone level that is passed on. Considering that diabetes can have a hereditary link, and this can affect supply (insulin resistance), it would explain the possibility. I've heard of families where moms have PCOS, and so do other family members. This can often affect supply as well. I've really been looking into these family links and find it all fascinating. Frustrating, but fascinating.
With all that said though, many, many people think they don't have enough milk, and instead, they just didn't have the support, or help needed to keep nursing.

I'd be interested to read these articles too if you have some links.

I'm certain that some woman do have trouble making enough milk, and that some need to work much harder to build their supply sufficiently. I just see a lot of women roaming around saying they couldn't make enough milk when they were obviously working with bad information.

I find this frustrating because it makes breastfeeding seem extraordinary, and like only a few talented women have the capacity to do it, when it really needs to be seen as the norm. I'd concede that 1 in 100 woman can't make enough milk to exclusively nurse, but the number of people saying they couldn't make enough milk seems WAY higher than that.

If your baby got a soother the day he was born, and had the soother in his mouth for 2.5 hours between scheduled feedings, and slept with the soother in his mouth from day one, don't tell me when he's a month old that you couldn't make enough milk. Most of the mainstream breastfeeding information that I've seen does not prepare woman that a lot time at the breast may be necessarily to stimulate sufficient milk production. And woman with newborns that want to nurse all the time often misread that as them not having enough milk, rather than it being natural to stimulate the production of the milk the baby needs.


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *foreverinbluejeans* 
According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF virtually all women can breastfeed.

It's interesting that although everyone says it, no one ever provides any evidence for it! You hear 97% can and 99% can but there is no citation for those numbers. There was a cohort study in Colorado that showed that 85% of the study women could exclusively breastfeed - that's the only study I have seen that has produced a number.

It's so complicated to tease out the preventable reasons for not having enough milk (scheduled feedings, tongue-ties, shallow latch with poor milk transfer etc) from primary physiological reasons (IGT, hormonal issues etc.) Much more work needs to be done in this area!


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## Qestia (Sep 26, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChetMC* 
Most of the mainstream breastfeeding information that I've seen does not prepare woman that a lot time at the breast may be necessarily to stimulate sufficient milk production. And woman with newborns that want to nurse all the time often misread that as them not having enough milk, rather than it being natural to stimulate the production of the milk the baby needs.

Amen. People just don't know what's normal. If I hadn't known about cluster feeding I would have thought I had low supply too. Thanks to educating myself on mdc dd is almost 6 Mon and has never had a drop of formula even tho I woh 4 days a week.


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## Slabobbin (Jan 29, 2004)

I have PCOS and have low milk supply due to this. I suspect that my mom had/has PCOS as well but it went undiagnosed. She said that her milk never came in. I don't think she even tried to nurse me, I think she did bottles from the beginning...but her milk still should have "came in" even without the stimulation (think of mothers who have lost their babies and their milk still comes in). I wonder if they didn't give her the shot to dry her milk up and she just didn't realize it (that was a very common thing to do back then). My grandmother (mom's mom) nursed all three of her babies. She did say that her largest baby "needed" to be supplemented and they would do a "sugar tit" (I'm not quite sure what that was). I think she nursed them all close to a year.


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## Zadee (Oct 20, 2006)

A good friend of mine was, as she put it, unable to make enough milk to feed a mouse, much less her twins. And, trust me, she had good support, was dedicated and her body was just askew. Her mother formula fed but some family research turned up that her grandmother had hired a wet nurse during the depression; she's not from wealth and she's pretty sure grandma wouldn't have shelled out for a wetnurse unless she had too to feed her babies.

So, I would say that anecdotally, yes, poor milk production can be hereditary.

Quote:

Many of the women who say they can't breastfeed know they really didn't try hard enough. That's why the topic is so difficult for them.
This kind of blanket statement results in drawing a circle and keeping people out. You can't know what the details in someone else's life are - what medical issues they have, what hormonal problems they have. You, quite simply, cannot know how hard they tried to BF so to dismiss a whole group of people with "well, you didn't try hard enough" is pretty harsh. If your goal is to normalize BF and encourage everyone to do it I don't think that kind of statement helps.


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## Limabean1975 (Jan 4, 2008)

My mom, my sister, and I all had low supply issues. My sister believes that means it's hereditary. I don't, necessarily, because all 3 scenarios were quite different.
Mom - 1st baby, fed on a once-every-4-hours schedule, took baby in for a check-up at 2 months old, baby diagnosed FTT, ordered to completely stop breast and use formula only, and that's what she did.
Mom - 2nd baby (me) no breastfeeding problems. Fed on demand.

Me - low supply, had lots of support and professional help, it was hard but got through it, never supplemented (did take medication - domperidone - was able to wean myself off the dom by 4 months).

Sister - low supply, feeding on demand and trying all the tricks, baby diagnosed FTT, my sister eventually diagnosed with primary lactation insufficiency caused by hypoplastic tubular breasts (a diagnosis I might doubt if it was not backed up by Dr Jack Newman himself, who does not at all easily say a woman cannot exclusively breastfeed.)

Hereditary issues? Maybe. But can't day that with certainty, especially with the three situations being so different.


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## caro113 (Aug 25, 2008)

Thanks for responses. I am definitely going to do things differently with baby #2. I have already decided that I will be going to LLL meetings while I'm still pregnant and surrounding myself with oodles of support.

Another thing they never tell breastfeeding mothers ... You really do need that support. I'm so used to just doing things and never needing support, since it's never really been there for a lot of choices. So I really didn't think I would need support with breastfeeding. I couldn't have been more wrong. Limabean, you are an inspiration to me!!
They also tell you that if baby wants to nurse too often you shouldn't let them, else you will become a human pacifier.







Then they took her to do a blood test (which I said no to, but then court orders were threatened and we settled on DP being with her the whole time .. I hate hospitals) and she comes back with a fucking a pacifier in her mouth. I was pissed ... she won't even take them now







(She has ONE that I give her now. It's a special teething pacifier, with the nipple like a raspberry so she can sooth her gums with it. And she won't even take that usually. But she does like her BornFree teether.)

What really bothers me, though, is I do feel like I didn't try hard enough. I didn't pump as often as I should have. I pumped so I didn't have to wake up for every night time feeding. I finally caved and bought the can of formula instead of just keeping her at my breast. I really do feel like I failed her on so many levels. I mean, I don't nurse her anymore because I didn't fight hard enough. I promised her I wouldn't have her in a hospital, but I did (that's a whole long story). I promised her an amazing, quiet, peaceful water birth at home and she got a horrible, absolutely horrible, chaotic hospital birth with my on my back. I can't even type anymore about that because then I'll have to think about and seriously, doing that makes me want to cry .. and sometimes .. worse things.

But anyway, thank you ladies for your responses. I really appreciate it! When we have #2 (hopefully soon) I am immediately reintroducing nursing to her .. well .. after my milk comes in







I totally can't wait to tandum nurse in public









PS: Oh yea, I also got my period back at 6wks PP ... and I was exclusively nursing/pumping at that point. No supplementing. I wonder what role that plays ...


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## kalamos23 (Apr 11, 2008)

For #2 I would definitely nurse through the night - early morning is when the milk supply is supposed to be the greatest according to kellymom

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/milkproduction.html

and that extra stimulation should help keep your milk up. I'm really sorry you didn't have the support that you needed (I was in a similar position with DD's birth - wanted a HB and ended up hospital transfer) and bet things go much better the next time around!


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## Limabean1975 (Jan 4, 2008)

Carol, you did not fail your daughter, really, you did not! You ahd the intentions, you used the tools you had. AS you now know, support is SUCH a crucial element. I'm glad I'm an inspiration to you, but there are far more inspiring stories than mine - women who fought through NO support, or much more difficult issues (even though to me at the time my issues seemed like the MOST difficult, I have read worse stories.)
I had the support of a city in which breastfeeding is heavily promoted - no questions from family or friends; 2 midwives and their student visiting me daily or more with lactation help and taking my middle-of-the-night sobbing phone calls; 3 different lactation consultants, all covered by government healthcare; one of which was Dr. Jack Newman (I a short drive from his clinic!); a DH who was *almost* as committed to BF as me.

My sister had all that plus me, a sister who'd been through it all just 7 months before her. Comments about women who "don't try hard enough" are so painful, so very painful for her to hear. We cannot judge that which we do not know. We cannot.


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## gardenmommy (Nov 23, 2001)

There may well be many women who do not try hard enough, and that is why they fail. Still, there are many other women who DO try, they try everything and anything to succeed at Bfing. It is important to validate their efforts, to support their desire to do the best for their babies, and to honor their mothering. Why beat up someone for something that has already happened, something they cannot change, no matter how much they wish to do so?

I don't think low milk supply is necessarily inherited in a physical sense. However, I think that clusters of behaviour can certainly be passed on through the generations that support a woman not being able to exclusively BF their children. To say that a woman can't BF her baby because her ancestors couldn't is, IMO, to devalue her efforts to succeed. So what if mom and grandma couldn't BF; obviously *someone* in her family did, or else she wouldn't be here today!


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## karika (Nov 4, 2005)

I personally believe all 'lack of milk' issues are attributable to modern things. Pacifiers used instead of moms breast results in less milk production. Caffeine I believe plays a negative role in many ways, and milk supply is one of them. some people take birth control pills and i cant see how that doesnt mess up the milk supply too. Also, there are herbs I have read that affect milk supply, I think cinnamon or nutmeg is one of them (it could be in a favorite food or drink). I think I read that on http://www.kellymom.com Not sleeping with your infant leads to your breasts believing your baby is dead, so why make milk(any time you are away from your baby for a length of time your body believes that)? Not feeding on demand lessens your breasts desire to make milk... so, to say a person has low supply, I would be apt to only believe it if they would eat an all natural diet of fish, vegetables, fruit and rice, drinking only natural juice and water (no dairy, and there are nutritional supplements like rice protein powder to make sure you get enough calories and protein) and doing all this in a grazing fashion, not in a planned meal sort of way, more like constant eating to make sure you get enough calories. wearing, holding, sleeping beside or sitting with baby almost 24 hrs a day. Making sure she experiences let down when baby nurses, and if not, giving herbs to help with letdown. if we could get all moms to do this, feed on demand, no nipple but your nipple, co sleeping, and eating a natural diet (no processed, no gmo, no partially hydrogenated fats... etc)prepared with your sisters whom have had babies and raised them the same way (think of the comraderie of the women in clan of the cave bear, that is how it is supposed to be for humans), well, then we could save the world for humans to live on.. My dd lost a little at birth. She was so big (8 lbs 6 oz) she would nurse me dry on both sides at times, having to switch back and forth every few minutes... maybe that is what makes women think they dont have enough... maybe that is what is referred to as cluster feeding? my dds both did it. I know with this one it crossed my mind that I didnt have enough. maybe because i read so many other women saying the same thing. Around 9.5 wks it seemed the breasts were very empty each time she suckled, and she felt lighter, though I dont have a good scale... but i just got up and forced myself to drink a few glasses of water a day. then when we nursed, I wouldn't do other things like we all sometimes do, I focused on her face and good feeling and thoughts like "I am providing the nutrients for my baby" "She is so cute and she needs me" to stimulate letdowns. Now my breast have regulated again. of course, i guess with the widespread use of fertility drugs (people whose genes are not complimentary breeding), gmo crops, gene mutating from medical treatments, I suppose a gene mutation could have occurred... in case all this sounds harsh, cuz I dont mean it that way, just trying to share info... we can only do that which we know to do. We can only use the tools in our box. When I first began parenting, I did it as I had seen. now I have broadened what I have seen and read (and cut off the negative ties (people that encourage you to do less than what is natural and important for the baby) so I can match moreso what a newborn is born expecting according to evolution of humans. We are not very far removed from caveman days you know? If we women (and all humans) lived together in clans, we could fix the world...

oh, and to the poster that is sad at how her birth went, I feel you. dd1 was in a hospital with pitocin and epidural, though no complications, and my wishes were basically ignored on dd2 because the midwife said it was a risky birth since the cord was wrapped on her neck twice... though I did have no pain medicines or ivs like i wanted. one day I will write my birth stories here as a healing exercise, I encourage you to do this too.

After reading Limabeans latest post, I agree with what she said at the bottom, we cannot know how hard someone is trying. I believe a lot of the low supply issue is what we eat and drink, lifestyle (society), and products that replace the mother, but I have never known anyone IRL with this issue, it is my layman science belief. The only other breastfeeding mother I have even spoken to extensively IRL is my sister who nursed hers past 2 yrs also.


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## caro113 (Aug 25, 2008)

I never even thought about the not sleeping with your infant being an issue. That makes so much sense! The only time I slept without was when I was really sick with a 24 hr bug and DP took her out for the day so I could sleep. And he took her out with a bottle of expressed milk since she was exclusively on breast milk at the time. I can't stand the idea of not sleeping with her.

I never really thought about the diet either. I did hear that cutting salt is a way to boost your milk supply. Of course, this is really difficult for me because I love my salt, but my babies are definitely more important than some salt.

I do believe that many mothers have a supply issue because they never really tried that hard. But those mothers also never cared to nurse. They usually used a bottle from the start because they were lazy or selfish, wanting to go out and drink and smoke. That's what bothers me, because I know a lot of those people and they just chose never to do it. Even DP's mother never once tried to nurse either of her children, although we don't know why. But anyway, what I'm saying, is there are those people, who I believe PP was talking about, but there are also people who want to nurse and just can't, mostly due to support and not feeding on demand and probably diet as well. (That makes so much sense.) I just hope with baby#2, things go differently. At least now, with baby#1, I have donor milk. I may not be able to nurse her, but at least she's getting breast milk









Oh, I wanted to add that I have posted in the HABT forum and we have figured out what we are going to deal as a way to help with the healing. We just wanted to make it extra special and decided to do it on her 6 month birthday. (We were originally going to plant a tree with her placenta, but now we are going to plant it with her Gdiaper inserts







and make a photo journal out of it. I'm going to do one of those slide show things that a bunch of people have in their siggys)


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## SallyN (Feb 5, 2008)

There are true medical reasons why a woman would not be able to make "enough" milk, no matter what or how hard she tried, or how much support she had (ie: insufficient glandular tissue development during puberty). If those medical reasons are hereditary, then yes... insufficient milk supply "could" be hereditary.

My very favorite local IBCLC is very adamant about speaking to a mother directly, in person even better, before making any judgment call about insufficient supply - due to the wide variety of valid causes of insufficient supply. (And I know a fair number of IBCLCs and CLCs... yet can't express how much respect and trust I have in this woman and her opinions/perspectives on breastfeeding... she's simply amazing.)

But what it really comes down to... is that you don't/can't know until you try.

OP: good luck with #2!


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## karika (Nov 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *caro113* 

I do believe that many mothers have a supply issue because they never really tried that hard. But those mothers also never cared to nurse. They usually used a bottle from the start because they were lazy or selfish, wanting to go out and drink and smoke.

I think this is a shame, and probably warrants another thread. I really wish women were more informed. Even if they drink and smoke, or even do drugs, their milk is still way superior to cow's milk. This is one of the articles I pass to others often.

http://www.health-e-learning.com/art...astfeeding.pdf

I have even read a lot on marijuana and mm and i believe in some cases it helps with producing milk, relaxing for letdown, etc, and I think a lot of women smoke marijuana and think they cant breastfeed because of it. but like i said that is a new thread.
and YAY for donor milk! I am still wondering why no one has gotten it so that women are milked and make it into a powder like they do with cow milk.


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## smanore (Sep 14, 2007)

A few days ago I responded that some research seems to indicate that for some women, milk supply issues might have a family component. I was asked if I had any citations etc. Most of the studies I was able to find online were about PCOS. Some spoke of Insulin Resistance as well. It doesn't show that it is hereditary or familial, but the there is the thought that there is a family link for some women. We just don't have a handle on exactly what's going on. But below are some links I was able to locate in the last couple of days. My preference is the information by Lisa Marasco, as she is studying what affects milk supply rather than just PCOS or Insulin Resistance and its overall affect on a person's health. I hope this explains my earlier post.

http://books.google.com/books?id=HX0...um=5&ct=result

http://books.google.com/books?id=pEL...um=1&ct=result

http://www.infertilityspecialist.com...in_kutner.html

http://www.pcos.northwestern.edu/studies/

http://www.womens-health.co.uk/pcos-...stfeeding.html

http://www.obgyn.net/pcos/pcos.asp?p...childers-chats

In Lisa Marasco's thesis titled: INSUFFICIENT MILK SUPPLY: COMMON FACTORS AND RELATIONSHIP TO POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME (April 2001) states: (Pg. 38) A more specific mode of vertical transmission has been identified in recent research, which has attempted to isolate genes that may influence teh development of PCOS. Legro, et al. found indications for "familial clustering" that suggested a dominant mode of inheritance. They also found that 24% of sisters of PCOS women were affected with PCOS, commenting that there appeared to be an "intermeiate phenotype of sisters with regular menstrual cycles who are hyperandrogenic per se" (additional 22% of sisters). This is from: Legro R, Speilman R, Urbanek M, Driscoll D, Strauss j, Danaif A. Phenotype and genotype in polycystic ovary syndrome. Recent Progress in Hormone Research 1998:53:217-56.


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## caro113 (Aug 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *karika* 
I am still wondering why no one has gotten it so that women are milked and make it into a powder like they do with cow milk.

That is a really great idea!! My only concern with that is lazy women - or those family members who don't agree with nursing past one year - would use that and say "it's still breast milk".







Maybe we can reserve it for people who need it, like those who really can't make milk for whatever reason, or can't nurse due to medical reasons or because they adopted or for the few men out there who are left to care for a newborn because mom died or something. That would certainly be interesting though of they could do something like that. Think of how many more women would choose to nurse if they got paid to being milked like that? but the requirements are that they have to keep their supply up by nursing a baby at home, with few exceptions of course (like for those who have weaned or have lost their babies). Wouldn't that be something? That would definitely start a breast feeding movement.


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