Insufficient glandular tissue/breast hypoplasia

[Fuzzyduck21]

I have a 3 week old ds and was planning to ebf. He had tongue tie which is now corrected but I have now been diagnosed with insufficient glandular tissue and underdeveloped breasts. I am producing milk but he won't latch properly and won't use nipple shields. Am expressing and ff top ups.

Are there any doctors or specialists I can see about this? To see if I'm wasting my time? All the stress about feeding is ruining the first few weeks of our lives together. I really don't want to exclusively formula feed (don't ask me why - prob fear over judgement...how stupid of me) so am desperate to sort something out. Help me! Xx

Fuzzy, check out MOBI (mothers overcoming breastfeeding issues) who are either on fb now or on the web. Busy now but will check back later.

Who diagnosed your condition?

Oh that sounds good will have a look! It was the lactation consultant who fixed my sons tongue tie. She is on the international board of lactation consultants (think that's what they are called) so hoping she knows her stuff plus looked up pics on the Web and it's me :( thought about going to docs but didn't think there is really a cure as it's due to hormones during puberty I believe - also is linked to pcos (which I already know I have as needed clomid to conceive my son). Life's never straightforward! Xx

Hi Fuzzy, How are you doing? Do you still need some help?
I think I saw the same IBCLC as you about 3 years ago. I have come across lots of helpful information since. Let me know if you need some more tips as I have found some useful resources.

If your desire to breastfeed stems from fear of social judgement (from who exactly?) then it's worth exploring that further especially if the stress of trying to breastfeed is interfering with your first precious weeks with your new baby. I'm very pro breastfeeding but not when the cost is too high - eg damaging mum's mental health, or baby's health in some way. Fear of judgement from others is a really common reason for persisting with breastfeeding, but how feed your child is no one else's business. I feel strongly about this as I've had a few friends who have really, really struggled to breastfeed and have eventually switched to FF only after torturing themselves about the imagined opinions of others... There's so much pressure it's unbelievable. Perhaps write down the pros and cons of continuing to try vs switching to FF if it gets to that point. It's such an emotional issue it can be really tough to make a balanced decision.