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Home › Diaries › Kay's › February 25, 2001

Kay's Diary Entries

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February 25, 2001


Adoptive Breastfeeding/Induced Lactation

I have so many who want the details of adoptive breastfeeding/induced lactation I thought I would give you all a mini course in it. It has been going on for many centuries. In bible days it was called wet nursing. In 3rd world countries women will induce lactate to care for orphans. Here we do it for adopted children. WHY? Why not? It is better for the babies. They receive antibodies, better nutrients and enzymes, bonding and much more. It is a wonderful way to bond with a newly adopted child. Many have successfully nursed an older adopted child too. I know of several who have gotten 6-9 month old's to nurse after being adopted.

Pregnancy is not necessary for breastfeeding. Prolactin (a hormone) is. Pregnancy does change the breast tissue so helps but is not necessary. Many adoptive moms who have never been pregnant have produced 30-100% of the breastmilk their child needs. Pumping, sucking, herbs http://www.geocities.com/kellysb/herbal-rem.html and drugs all help raise the prolactin level.

I started by pumping every 3-4 hours with a Hospital grade breastpump (Medela Lactina double pump). http://www.medela.com/products/lactina.html The light weight pumps available at most stores will not do the job of Induced Lactation. The Lactina is $700-900 to buy so I rented it for 3 months.

I also started taking herbs: 9 Fenugreek (an Indian spice that makes your sweat smell like maple syrup), http://users.erols.com/cindyrn/feungr.htm
6 Blessed Thistle (NOT Milk Thistle),
6 Marshmallow Root (make the milk thicker and higher in calorie). I also drank Mothers Milk Tea and lots of water. Eating oatmeal. pineapple, and Henry Weinhart's Rootbeer will also help.

I got milk drops 10 days after starting the pumping/herbs routine. By 4 weeks I was getting enough to freeze an ounce a day. By the time she was born I was freezing 2-3 ounces a day.

When she was born I nursed first, 10 minutes each side, switching sides 4 times (YES 45 minutes of nursing) then I would give her
1-2 OZ of formula or donated breastmilk in a Lact-aid supplementer.
http://www.lact-aid.com/ The Lactaid allows the formula to go thru a tiny tube at my breast so she got my milk and formula at the same time. This also stimulated me to produce more milk. I chose to nurse first without the supplementer because I wanted her to nurse both with and without the supplementer. She was always willing to nurse 45 minutes without the supplementer so I would often times offer the extra 1-2 OZ in a bottle.

There are two drugs available that many choose to help with milk supply. DOMPERIDONE is one. http://users.erols.com/cindyrn/19.htm It is not available in the USA. It is available in Mexico $102 a month, Canada $50 a month and New Zealand $25 a month. It is used for stomach/digestion problems with a side effect of my milk production. You need to take it the whole time you nurse or your supply will probably drop. RAGLAN is the other drug. It is available very inexpensively from your local doctor. It is also used for stomach issues. You take it for only 4 weeks. I chose not to take either drug since I had nursed 3 bio children before (even if 12 years earlier).

I have many more adoptive nursing links and information on my web page at http://www.preciouskids.org/adopt/adoptnursing.html

I hope this answers your questions and you can tell a friend about the wonders of adoptive breastfeeding! Spread the word! I would also be happy to talk with others interested in adoption and adoptive breastfeeding.

Kay in Oregon
Kay@preciouskids.org
http://www.preciouskids.org



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