# BCP for inducing lactation



## Guest (Sep 18, 2012)

Hi there,
I'm planning on attempting to induce lactation to breadtfeed our baby due through surrogacy in early Feb, 2013.

I've spoken Lenore about the Newman Goldfarb protocols and she advised I should start with the bcp called Ortho Novum 1/35, (alt called Necon 1/35)

GP could not find either available on the NHS so gave a prescription for Loestrin.

Is Loestrin equivalent to Ortho 1/35 or is there a more similar bcp available in UK please?

Also any other related experiences in inducing lactation would be great!

Anna x


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## Mistletoe (Holly) (Jan 1, 2007)

Here is an interesting article....

http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/3/581.full

These are from my personal reading and experiences, not a professional literature search.....

My immediate thought was the use of metoclopramide or domperidone (both anti sickness drugs that increase prolactin levels) plus breast pumping and nipple stimulation. Having the baby very close (preferrably in a sling in the day and sleeping next to basket at night) with lots of skin to skin when it is born will also be important for natural hormone levels. Frequent pumping and feeding - every 1-2 hours initially, especially at night will help increase your hormone levels.

You can hire hospital grade efficient pumps, which might be better than using a shop bought pump.

Fennel tea, fenugreek and oats are all also advocated for increasing milk production.

In my own case I had huge problems with milk supply due to elective c-section, blood loss, hereditary factors and my baby had tongue tie - he ended up very ill with jaundice and dehydration so I had to combination feed. I was put on domperidone and tried fenugreek and combination fed up until last week! (my baby is 15 months old now)
I only stopped as I am starting a FET and need to stop the prolactin.

I guess that as you have not been pregnant, the breast tissue needs priming with the hormones in the pill that you would normally get in pregnancy - oestrogen and progesterone.

You probably will need to combination feed to prevent excessive weight loss as it might be hard to produce enough for exclusive breast feeding - any amount of breast milk you can make will help. Will you ask the surrogate to produce essential colostrum initially? A mistake in our case is the midwives did not weigh the baby due to poor communication until it was nearly too late - do make sure the baby is weighed by day 5 and percentage weight loss measured.

If you need to supplement, rather than using a bottle (although we did this successfully) you can use a spoon, cup, syringe or a medela supplementor - which is a tube that you put at the nipple to supplement whilst getting nipple stimulation through feeding yourself. You can put expressed milk or formula in the reservoir. If you can get your supply going early, you could pump and freeze some milk?

The Kellymom website is great for breast feeding and lactation information and I wish I had known about it. Also many children's centres run breast feeding support groups and certainly ours runs an antenatal group. You might want to go and get advice from them. I am sure they would love your unusual story and they will be able to help and encourage you.

I will have a think about the pills and do some reading and will get back to you. If you don't hear, remind me by posting a reply!

Sorry if you knew all this already and I've gone on too much! It is a bit of a passion for me after our experiences.


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## Mistletoe (Holly) (Jan 1, 2007)

Here is the Kellymom page on adoptive breast feeding.... might find some info on there?

There is also plenty of other great information on the site for when you are breast feeding too.

http://kellymom.com/ages/adopt-relactate/relactation-resources/#linksadopt

/links


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## Mistletoe (Holly) (Jan 1, 2007)

http://www.asklenore.info/breastfeeding/induced_lactation/protocols4print.shtml

On this page there is mention of Yasmin which is available in the UK.

/Links


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## Mistletoe (Holly) (Jan 1, 2007)

I did not realise on my quick search of the products that norethindrone is the US name for what we call norethisterone.
That would be simple to look up as all of the contraceptives are listed in the BNF.
I am surprised it took so much trouble. I think it is the name difference and finding out what is in these foreign products precisely that is the difficulty in a quick GP appointment.

I have checked in my pharmacy reference and it is indeed the foreign name for the same drug.
And yes Norimin is the UK equivalent.


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## Mistletoe (Holly) (Jan 1, 2007)

I would say start taking a vitamin supplement designed for breast feeding with iron, calcium and vitamin D at the correct levels when you start producing milk.Pregnacare range is good. Although your body will put into the milk exactly what is needed, it will do it at your expense. Although as you have not been pregnant so not had nutrients stripped from your body by that, your likelihood of deficiency when you start out is likely to be less.
You should eat a varied and balanced diet and you will not need to increase calorie intake above normal varied diet levels until the baby is eating lots of milk. I made the mistake of eating lots as I was repeatedly told by the midwives that I was not eating enough to make milk and put on a stone that I can't shift! It is amazing how little exercise you can realistically get in the fat burning zone when you have a baby. Even if you walk miles with the pram, it is not like going to the gym or aerobics and when you have a LO you are always eating in a rush and not much thought goes into it compared to how it was pre motherhood.
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/mom-vitamins/
Some people say eating a diet containing oats significantly increases breast milk so porridge is on the menu!
Omega 3 is also something to consider - I took Mumomega.
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/dha-mother/

You only need to be careful what you eat, take on prescription, caffeine, alcohol etc once you start storing milk in the freezer or feeding. Even when mums are breast feeding and want a night out or need to take a medicine for a few days we tell them to pump and dump until the toxin is out of the body. Be careful about eating lots of one food - eat a varied diet and there should not be any problem. e.g. eating fish everyday probably is not a good idea as there is lots of mercury.

I mentioned about the surrogate expressing colostrum for the baby once it is born for the first 4-5 days. I only mentioned this because colostrum is a very special fluid only produced in the initial days after birth and it contains lots of antibodies to protect the baby. I don't think with your plan to induce lactation that you will produce this specific type of special fluid. I could be wrong, but it is worth looking into. I do believe that breast milk is a mixture of colostrum and fats etc, and prem babies are sometimes put on donated milk, but in the initial days the colostrum is supposed to be very unique. In my experience, it is sometimes necessary to express a little colostrum into a syringe and give it to baby when they are hungry but too low on blood sugar to feed, and they get a little bit of the sugars which wakes them up and gets them feeding. It is worth a thought. 
/links


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## Mistletoe (Holly) (Jan 1, 2007)

At least the baby will be getting breast milk if at all possible.


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