Is there a way to breastfeed if you adopt a child? Can you actually produce milk? How? ?

Question

Is there a way to breastfeed if you adopt a child? Can you actually produce milk? How? ?

Answer 1

Yes, it is usually possible to stimulate lactation.  How much milk you will be able to provide, and the odds of baby actually nursing at the breast (rather than drinking pumped milk from a bottle), depend on a number of factors. (If you've been pregnant/given birth, how much warning you get in advance of your baby's arrival, age of the baby, and your particular body/physiology.)

As always, Kellymom has some great info.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/adopt/index.h...

Answer 2

Yes. There is also a medication called Domperidone that is normally used for stomach problems, but when combined with nipple stimulation, such as pumping and suckling, b*****s will produce milk. Fenugreek is also a common herbal supplement used.

Chances are, you won't produce as much as a mother who carried her baby, but you can at least breastfeed and supplement too.

Check out www.kellymom.com for more information and support on this if you're planning on it.

Answer 3

Believe it or not, yes there is.  But you'll need medical intervention.  Doctors can give you a series of shots of the hormone that stimulates milk production to get you started.

Answer 4

YES you can...Contact La Leche League International they will be MORE than happy to assist you. It will be a little more difficult if you have never given birth but not impossible...there is even a lactation bag that fits over your shoulder and has a small tube that goes down to your nipple and releases Formula( while your milk is being established) to the baby as she/he nurses to stimulate your milk production~~Aloha and BEST of Luck if you are going to Breast-Feed~~Michelle~~