Milk production from a dairy farm perspective

[psophia17]

>And I am one of those cows, er, humans, who can't produce
>enough milk. I assume I have lack of sufficient glandular
>tissue

If I could share some of mine, I would - glandular tissue is practically coming out of my ears (nice image that is :P)

Percentages are misleading, I've always felt. I don't know the stats, but if even a tiny fraction of the population is unable to BF, or has very low supply, that is still equal to tens of thousands of women who could potentially be totally stressing out about it, feeling guilty, and running themselves ragged. That sucks.

ETC typos - no coffee = can't spell

[mamicka]

>And I see no reason not to apply info about cows, tons of
>years worth of research completed for financial gain on the
>part of the dairy industry, to BF, which doesn't have an
>industry funding research behind it. If it doesn't apply,
>well, no loss, but if it does why not capitalize on that?

I totally agree. Also, thanks again for the description of manual expression - I tried it & it works *really* well from the get-go.

Allison

[jenjenfirenjen]

Wow. Thanks for posting this Petra. Really fascinating. The only thing that didn't ring true for me was that breasts are firm when full and then get soft when empty. Sure, this was the case for me in the early days but over time, my breasts would be pretty nearly the same before a nursing session as after. And I'm an overproducer so there certainly was plenty in there. Just curious if this was the case for you for as long as nursed? In my case, it did make me wonder if the milk was really already there before I nursed or if it wasn't being produced as I nursed.

[daniele_ut]

This really is a fascinating subject Petra! Thank you for posting your observations!

I had a similar experience as Jen. I was a full-time pumper and always produced about 48oz a day, but as the months passed, I wouldn't get as much of a sensation of being full, though I would produce the same amount at a pumping session. My breasts would feel the same before and after.

[psophia17]

I was always pretty firm before BF and pretty squishy afterwards just like a cow is, definitely it was more noticeable at first, but it was only shortly before DS weaned that I didn't really firm up. I wonder - when you were to delay a BF or pumping session, did you get more firm at those times?

[jenjenfirenjen]

Again, in the beginning, yes, if I went out to dinner with hubby and missed a feeding, I would be noticeably fuller and firmer. But over time, that changed too. Of course, I really rarely missed any feedings until he was close to 1 y.o. and down to nursing only 4X day. Now, DS only nurses 3X day and it's mainly for comfort...he's not getting very much but if he falls asleep in the car then we usually skip the usual before-nap feeding and I can't tell any difference.

[MarisaSF]

Petra-
Do cows have this:

Nice, firm, perky udders before and during pregnancy and more floppy/squishy afterwards? :)

[MarisaSF]

>2. Figure out the cadence of the sucking reflex, whether
>you're BF or pumping, and hum to it.

FWIW, my co-workers thought my pump (PIS) sounded like it was saying "Where did they go? Where did they go? Where did they go?"

And when I ran it after I was done to dry it out, it sounded like, "Over there! Over there! Over there!"

It got a bit annoying thinking that after awhile. Next time(?) I will come up with a song! :)

[nov02mom]

Over 4 million babies born in the US each year. Most studies put the number of moms unable to breastfeed for physical reasons between 2% and 10%. That's alot of moms!!!

[kaylinsmommy2]

ROTL! :) How about saggy udders? ;)
Caroline
Kaylin 6/5/04

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