Breastfeeding your adopted child possible?

Is it possible to breastfeed your adopted child if you haven't been pregnant or had a baby. Apparently so. I've set up my google account to email me all news on anything related to breastfeeding. Honestly, most of the stuff I get isn't interesting enough for me to spend the time making a post about it, but this story about An Adoptive Mother's Decision to Breastfeed really touched me.

"We found out that we would need to adopt, I shortly after learned that I could still breastfeed. "

How is this possible I wondered? If the adoptive mother wasn't pregnant, could stimulating her breast alone be enough to make her produce milk? A few months prior to the baby being born, the woman in this story (along with her gynecologist) did research and in preparation for her adoptive son's birth, she began taking a lactation inducing prescription called Domperidone, along with lots of pumping and herbal supplements, and sure enough she slowly but surely started producing milk! Once baby Lucas was born, he had no issues with latching and through some simultaneous supplementation using the Medela Supplemental Nursing System the mother was able to breastfeed her adopted son!

How incredible is that!? And what an amazing way for the mother and baby to establish a really strong bond! I've always said one of the sad / hardest things I'd have to sacrifice if I adopted a child would be not being able to breastfeed that baby, but now, after reading this article, I feel that wouldn't be an issue at all. I really hope this story inspires more gynecologists to encourage women who cannot conceive, and plan to adopt, to consider breastfeeding their adopted children.

The story also makes me wonder, is it possible then for a mother who wanted to breastfeed but couldn't, to try again, say 3 months after her baby was born? I wonder if a woman who breastfed in the past, would be able to start up a milk supply years after it dried up, maybe without the lactation drugs, just with pumping because her body already had an established milk supply at one point? The concept that a woman who never even carried a child could breastfeed opens so many other possibilities. In the past you could only get breast milk from a women who was currently lactating because she had had a baby. Not any more.

In my freshman year of high school, I first learned that in the olden days, the wealthy had "wet nurses" to breastfeed their children. My English teacher explained the role of wet nurses while we read Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Juliet's nurse spoke of how she raised Juliet and how as a baby she would suckle at her breast. At the time, I thought it was totally bizarre that any mother (wealthy or not) would chose to have someone else nurse their child. If a mother couldn't breastfeed back in the day, it made sense to find someone else who could feed the baby, but this wasn't the case. Women chose to have a wet nurse breastfeed their child as a status symbol to show their wealth. At any rate, I couldn't help but think of the term "wet nurse" when I read about this woman nursing her adopted child.

I wonder if in the future, the role for wet nurses will make a come back or if a high demand for breast milk will create jobs for women to simply make breast milk (without the need for these women to have been pregnant or while nursing their own baby)? How might this change the formula market? Can you imagine a factory of women whose job is to go to "work" and sit down and pump? Instead of a barn of cows, there will be a cubicle farm of women pumping every few hours, all that milk being pooled together and then bottled and sold to the public. Or what about a missionary group? I could see a group of dedicated women (years after having babies and being pregnant) re-establishing their milk supply to travel to countries where maybe a natural disaster hit and breast milk is needed for these starving babies who may have lost their parents. I'd probably sign up. Once you get that milk going, as long as there is a demand your body will keep on producing. I'd love to go from country to country, spending time as a wet nurse for starving, sick or dying babies. Ugh! The idea just kills me...in a good way! Like, I love the potential of what these could mean! Maybe those nuns who run orphanages could take this drug, pump, and feed these babies who need more holding time anyway? One of the downsides to breastfeeding, for me, was the idea that either you could do it or you couldn't, and that window of opportunity was very narrow. Now there is no time barrier and there isn't even the stipulation that you had to recently be pregnant and/ or be currently breastfeeding.

On a personal note, if I couldn't breastfeed (after pumping, supplementation and taking lactation drugs) I would prefer to use a wet nurse or surrogate mother's milk over cow or soy milk based formula. I don't think I'd be comfortable with my baby actually nursing on another woman's breast, but if it's in a bottle I'd prefer my human baby to get human milk over any alternative. Can't wait to see how this breastfeeding breakthrough will impact our and our children's future!

Nursing beyond the first year...

So my second son's first birthday party is this Saturday and it was my goal to nurse for the first year. I can't believe how fast this year went. With my first son it felt like it took 3 years to get to his first birthday and now with my little baby Jonathan it feels like just a few months ago he was born. As you can read on my post "Nursing Strike" I didn't have a choice as to whether or not I should continue nursing my first born, Ben, after the one year mark because he weaned himself at just over 11 months. I think a few family members were hoping Jonathan would quit nursing on his own, but he's still going strong - almost nursing as often as a newborn! The good news is that in the past couple weeks he started drinking water from a bottle and now is exploring the concept of a sippie cup with a straw, but with the recent discoveries of cow milk protein intolerances in my family I'm scared to stop nursing Jonathan. What if my sweet, NON COLICKY, HAPPY little Jonathan turns into a screaming, suffering in pain child with stomach cramping, vomiting and diarrhea issues leaving us both wanting to die?

What are the alternatives to cow milk for a one year old, you ask? Soy milk - which they are beginning to discover isn't so great for you, especially for boys because of the estrogen levels, Rice Milk - which has no protein and very little fat, Almond or Coconut milk - both of which also have little to no protein and fat and may cause nut allergies. Toddlers NEED whole milk, it's suppose to be whole milk from their mother (you know of the same species / animal breed as they are) but there's a reason why the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend breastfeeding until age 2. So why wouldn't I nurse until age two? There are plenty of benefits to keep breastfeeding: It doesn't hurt (it stopped hurting after the first week), it's free, it's always ready / available, will never spoil / expire / be recalled, etc. I don't really have too many concerns with continuing to breastfeed. I don't really have too many concerns with continuing to breastfeed but here are a few: Most people, including close family and friends don't get it. It's very uncommon in our society to even nurse for the first year so going beyond that really rubs people the wrong way, even loved ones who know how passionate I am about breastfeeding! Second, I am a little nervous about all those teeth! Jonathan now has 6 teeth and although he has yet to bite me, I actually received an email from a reader that covers this exact fear of mine, and I will share that story (and picture) in my next post. The only other concern I have is how I'm going to feel lifting my 12, 16, or 20 month old up on my lap to nurse him, especially if I have to do it in front of anyone. Also, if Jonathan starts to become aware and reach / try to nurse in public or actually starts verbalizing that he wants "momma's milk" that's going to be embarrassing. So I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to nurse Jonathan until he's two, but I'm going to try...here's to all the mom's who nurse beyond the first year!

If you are thinking about nursing beyond the first year and want to know you're not the only one, there are actually a surprisingly high number of blogs out there of women who have talked about their experience. Here was one I really liked:

http://happyhealthymama.com/2010/11/my-breastfeeding-story-part-one-the-beginning.html

My sister blog!

My dear readers,

I know I've been neglecting you and this blog, but I have good reason. I've hinted on other posts in the past that I've been trying to balance some family struggles. Now I'm ready to share. A few months ago my husband and I became concerned that our first born son, Ben, might be Autistic, or at least heading down that path. I've devoted as much time as I could spare away from my family responsibilities and blogging to concentrate on what I could / need to do to help my child. As I began to understand more and more about this epidemic, I realized that I need to use what I've learned to help others who are either suffering down the same path as my family or for those new pregnant mommies and families who might be affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder in the future. I present you with my sister blog Take Better Care which will cover everything we've been through, everything we're going through, and everything I've learned along the way. Please be patient with me as I try to find time to juggle both blogs on top of everything else. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Take better care,
Pokey Momma