Case study of a lactating grandmother
Patnaik, S.; Sharma, S.; Sinha, S.; Roy, K.
Indian Journal of Public Health 43(1): 10; 25
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-557X PMID: 11243080 Document Number: 284032
This is a case study of a lactating grandmother. Thini Bai, married for 34-36 years and living in the village of Pantaniya, had been through menopause 3-4 years prior to her condition. A grandson named Bantu, whose mother had died of malaria two days after his birth, was left under her care. She related that she had let Bantu suckle at her breast to pacify him. After a while she noticed changes in her breast size and fullness, in the color spread of the areolae, and in nipple consistency. Eventually, milk was being secreted. She continued to breast-feed 8-10 times a day as she had done when she was a mother. An increase in weight of 75 g in the child was subsequently noted. At the time of investigation, Bantu's age was 6 months and his weight was 6.5 kg. This is a unique case of a postmenopausal grandmother lactating after a minimum of 16 years since last lactation.