Can a woman with no baby produce milk......?

Question

If a mother breast feeding her baby is unable to produce more milk, is it possible for another woman to be able to breast feed this child, even though she is not currently breast feeding.

Answer 1

Women who have never been pregnant are sometimes able to induce enough lactation to breastfeed. This is called "induced lactation". A woman who has breastfed before and re-starts is said to "relactate". If the nipples are consistently stimulated by a breast pump or actual suckling, the breasts will eventually begin to produce enough milk to begin feeding a baby. Once established, lactation adjusts to demand. This is how some adoptive mothers, usually beginning with a supplemental nursing system or some other form of supplementation, can breastfeed. There is thought to be little or no difference in milk composition whether lactation is induced or a result of pregnancy. Rare accounts of male lactation (as distinct from galactorrhea) exist in the medical literature.

Some drugs, primarily atypical antipsychotics such as Risperdal, may cause lactation in both women and men.

Try http://www.surrogacy.com/medres/article/lac.html

Answer 2

Women Giving Milk

Answer 3

First of all congrats on your decision to breastfeed, it's one if the most important decisions you can make. Let me address your question in parts.

1. You need to examine why the biological mother can't produce enough milk. Our bodies are programmed to provide the baby with the exact amount of milk that it needs. If the mother is having a hard time breastfeeding, you need to bring this up with you family doctor. She could have a breast infection (mastitis), be improperly attaching the baby to the nipple and not the whole breast, she could be dehydrated, or simply too nervous or stressed. Bring this to the attention of your family physician, they can help.

2. Try contacting the La Lecehe League. This is a group of women who help with breastfeeding. They are experts, many of them nurses and certified lactation consultants. Your hospital may also have professionals that can help you. Breastfeeding is an art, and does not come easily. Our society thinks of it as dirty, or pervy, and so we do not educate our daughters on the womanly art of breastfeeding as we should. Try contacting someine near you, the website can put you in touch with a support group or breastfeeding professional. Don't give up!

3. Yes it is possible for a woman who has not recently birthed a child to produce milk. It won't be easy, but it can be done. A doctor may put this othe woman on synthetic hormones to get the ball rolling. A good quality breastpump will also stimulate the breasts to produce milk, your doctor or lactation consultant can also help you with this. She will need to pump several times each day and be very consistent about it. You will also need to use a Supplemental Nursing System, such as Medela's. This adoptive woman can nurse your child, but it won't be enough to fully sustain the baby. You will have to use this type of system that runs a tube down the woman's chest and nipple that will provide the baby with formula while suckling on the breast. Check out the website below it has LOADS of information for your little family.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

I just wanted to add that only a very tiny percentage of women (around one percent or less) are unable to produce enough milk to feed an infant. Wet nursing used to be the only way to get out of feeding your own baby. It's true that men can breastfeed. Most don't try, and many babies are disturbed by chest hair.

Answer 5

This is a totally true phenomena! Odd as it may seem It is possible for a woman to produce milk and usually by stimulation alone actually! There are lactation aid devices that women can use to help supplement the natural supply until l it comes in or even if it never does. I have seen cases of women adopting infants and using such a device and eventually their own milk supply came in and the supplemental surrogate milk was no longer needed. Here are a couple of articles to help explain the device and how it is possible for an adoptive mother to do such a thing! The 2nd sight has pictures as well. http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/breastfeeding/guide/lactation_aid.html
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dlactation%2520aid%26fr2%3Dtab-web%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501&w=150&h=108&imgurl=images.suite101.com%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F69000%2F69940%2FSNS.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.suite101.com%2Farticle.cfm%2F11597%2F69940&size=38.1kB&name=SNS.jpg&p=lactation+aid&type=jpeg&no=13&tt=50&oid=d59dfcc181c7f812&ei=UTF-8

Answer 6

Oddly enough, if a woman wants to badly enough she can actually produce milk without recieving hormones. In fact, there are documented cases of MEN lactating too. They have the same equipment as us, just not as prettily packaged. Our minds play an enormous part in the function of the body, so enough determination on the woman's part can actually produce lactation. That said, the easiest way to accomplish it is through a hormone regime you'd get from your doctor.

Answer 7

Yes it is. In some parts of the world it is well known that post menopausal Grandmothers help breast feed their grandchildren (and any other child for that matter). It seems to be a physical memory of having ones own child but that doesn't mean that a woman who has never has a child can't lactate and feed an infant. Even men have been documented in the past as being able to lactate so anything is possible.

Answer 8

yes, there are ways to have a women produce milk even when she's not been preg. a nurse that deals with this can give you details on how it works... but you must let the baby suck even when there is no milk... .after a few times ... the milk will begin to develop... and then you will be on your way....

Answer 9

It is possible for any woman to lactate. The woman would need to go on hormones and begin to pump using a machine.

Women who adopt children are able to breastfeed, and that's how they do it.

Answer 10

what can be the Cause of a lady producing milk without breastfeeding or being pregnant