Grandmothers CAN Breastfeed! I’m a Top Lactation Consultant and This Is How It’s Done

Actress Fay Ripley made headlines yesterday when she said she would happily breastfeed her grandchildren in the future – her own children are currently aged 17 and 21.

Reactions were swift and mixed: some were shocked and thought it was physically impossible, while others found the idea repulsive.

But the fact is that grandmothers can breastfeed their grandchildren. If they have breastfed before, it is called relactation. If a woman who has never been pregnant starts breastfeeding, it is called induced lactation.

Rebirth is generally possible for mothers who have breastfed previously, but the longer the period, the more difficult it can be

A seminal paper published in 1956 reported on the experiences of ten grandmothers who “reacted” to their grandchildren. Tellingly, the quality of the milk also did not appear to differ significantly with relactation, according to a study published in 1980 in the Journal of Paediatrics – although the women who had never been pregnant but were breastfeeding (“induced lactation”) did not produce colostrum, the first form of milk produced by an expectant mother, which is higher in antibodies.

Mothers who have breastfed before can usually breastfeed again, but the longer the period, the more difficult it can be.

As a lactation consultant, most parents I support with relactation have had a difficult breastfeeding experience, regret stopping, and want to try again. I have also supported women who have had to stop breastfeeding to receive treatment for breast cancer. If it is a matter of weeks or months between stopping breastfeeding and starting the relactation process, the chances of a full milk supply are quite high.

But it’s not an easy process. It takes time, patience, and dedication. The mother must pump or breastfeed her baby at least eight times in 24 hours to stimulate milk production. It can take several weeks for the breasts to start producing milk again. For someone who has been breastfeeding for years, it will likely take longer—and they may not produce as much milk as someone who tries to relactate after, say, a few months.

The World Health Organization says: ‘It is often assumed that the shorter the interval since the woman last breastfed… the more likely she is to breastfeed again. Reports from industrialized countries support this.

‘But several researchers from developing countries indicate that rebirth sometimes does not occur until 15 or 20 years after a woman has breastfed her last child, even after menopause.’

There are now many older mothers in their 40s who are in perimenopause (the period leading up to menopause) and breastfeeding, so the gaps between their pregnancies may not be as long.

According to the WHO, ‘relationship sometimes occurs 15 or 20 years after a woman has breastfed her last child, even after menopause’

If someone wants to breastfeed months or years after the last time, consultant Caiomhe Whelan writes that they should ‘be patient with themselves and their baby, and get the support of a lactation consultant’

If it is a woman who has never breastfed before – induced lactation – it is much more difficult. This is most often done by parents who want to breastfeed an adopted baby or a baby born to a surrogate mother.

How is it physically possible? In order to breastfeed, you need milk-producing glandular tissue in your breasts. This tissue develops during puberty, but only begins to produce milk in response to hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy and after childbirth.

The main hormone involved in milk production is prolactin. Women who want to relactate need to increase their prolactin levels in order to produce milk again.

They can do this through regular nipple stimulation, pumping, breastfeeding, or both.

There are indeed protocols to induce lactation. The best-known protocol is the Newman-Goldfarb protocol. In this protocol, the body is ‘fooled’ into thinking it is pregnant, after which the breasts are prepared for milk production.

The person inducing breastfeeding takes the contraceptive pill to simulate pregnancy and the anti-nausea drug domperidone, which increases prolactin levels (this drug is prescribed off-label, meaning it is not licensed for this use).

Fay Ripley’s comments shocked many people who thought the idea of ​​a breastfeeding grandmother was physically impossible, but that’s not the case

If you decide you want to relactate, it’s important to understand from the start that it might not work

They will also follow a pumping schedule to stimulate milk production. The Newman-Goldfab protocol recommends starting the process of inducing lactation two to six months before the baby is born or arrives.

If you decide to relactate, it’s important to understand from the start that it might not work: As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the U.S. public health agency) advised earlier this year, “It’s important to help mothers set realistic relactation expectations based on their individual circumstances. Relactation can be time-consuming.

‘Success depends in part on the parents’ motivation and dedication to the process, and on the help of an experienced lactation consultant. Milk production may begin as early as a few days after nipple stimulation begins, but it may take weeks to months.’

So yes, grandmothers can breastfeed babies, but these situations usually occur in developing countries and it is very easy to make light of them in a Western context. In other scenarios, it may be that a family is hit by a natural disaster, the mother dies and the family has no access to or cannot afford infant formula.

In situations like these, a grandmother breastfeeding a baby can mean the difference between that baby’s life and death.

• A list of lactation consultants in the UK is available on the Lactation Consultants of Great Britain website, lcgb.org

As told to Julie Cook