Induced lactation

This is another one of those topics that I wish I could have found more info on, so I thought I'd share what we did in the hopes that it might help others navigating the world of lesbian or adoptive parenthood!

Induced lactation is something I researched years ago when I thought I'd be the non bio mommy. In the end I decided that the stress and time involved wasn't worth it to me and I decided not to do it. A few months after I got pregnant, my DW decided she wanted to do this. E has always felt a stronger urge to have a bio/physical connection with our child than I have, and it's been very hard for her to not be the one pregnant or to know if she will ever be able to carry a baby. So she decided it would help her a lot emotionally to be able to breastfeed the baby. Luckily for us, since I would be breastfeeding too, DW didn't need to worry about how much she produced, as most women do with induced lactation.

E says that blogging is not her thing, so she asked me to convey her story to you. She researched protocols and decided to follow this one: http://www.asklenore.info/breastfeeding/induced_lactation/gn_protocols.shtml.
The protocol calls for:

1) Meet with your doctor and explain what you want to do. Obtain a presciption for a high progesterone birth control pill such as Yazmin. It must have high progesterone in order to best mimic the breast changes of pregnancy that prepare you for lactation. Begin taking birth control 4-6 months before the birth and continue until 6weeks before birth. DO NOT TAKE the sugar pills in the packet. (Make sure Dr. writes Rx to say "no placebo, 28 day supply".)

2) Obtain an Rx for Domperidone, a medication that is supposed to be for GI problems but they found it makes people lactate! It is only available in the U.S. through compound pharmacies. We found one in Asheville, NC. Ours costs $120 per month. Continue taking until your milk supply is established after the birth.

3) Begin using a breast pump every 3 hours, for at least 5 minutes each time, 6 weeks before the birth.


How did it go?

E responded really well to the drugs, producing drops on the 2nd day of pumping! Her supply started to increase but when her renewal Rx of domperidone didn't arrive in time and she missed a couple days, it disappeared! She was never able to recover from that. She added fenugreek and blessed thistle to her regimen but it was a LOT of pills to handle, 3 times a day, and it was hard to keep up.

When MB was born, E nursed her immediately, and continued every few hours. She tried various breast pumps, nursing shields, and a supplemental nursing system. She never produced more than a few drops. Eventually she tried to feed these to MB with a dropper, but the process of collecting them, transferring them, etc wasted the few drops and MB got almost nothing that way. After 2-3 weeks of this and with the expensive domperidone Rx needing to be renewed, we decided to save the money and stress and have her discontinue her efforts to nurse/pump. She went cold turkey and experienced a couple days of moderate discomfort, and that was that.

I know she hated to give up that bond with MB, but I'm sure it helped them bond with each other in the early weeks and that it benefited them both. I think E is glad she doesn't have to always wonder whether she'd have been able to nurse, so that makes it all worth it. However she does have anxiety now about whether she can successfully nurse any biological kids she may have, mostly because of flat nipples. I have encouraged her to do non-nutritive/comfort nursing but so far she has not seemed too interested, and that's OK. She and MB bond in other ways now, and I think E feels more and more like her mom every day (I'm still getting used to the idea myself!)