For Nova Scotia couple Allie and Sam Conway, welcoming twins into the world was the ultimate exercise in teamwork: Sam underwent egg retrieval via IVF, Allie carried and gave birth to twins … and then Sam, who has never given birth, breastfed the babies.
Yes, you read that right. After preparing her body with both medication and physical stimulation, Sam was able to produce more than enough milk to feed the twins for months after Allie gave birth to them.
“I first heard about inducing lactation online,” Sam tells TODAY.com. “I was just intrigued by the idea, and I really, really wanted to try.”
The induction protocol
She reached out to lactation consultants whose responses ran the gamut from, “It’s not something I can help with,” to, “It’s not even possible, so don’t bother trying.”
In the end, however, Allie’s obstetrician was able to refer Sam to a doctor who walked her through the process. Essentially she had to trick her body into thinking she was pregnant.
First Sam started taking birth control medication. Then she stopped birth control and started taking domperidone, a medication that has an off-label benefit of supporting milk production.
Sam started using a hospital grade pump in July of 2022, well-before Allie’s scheduled C-section date in September. Since Allie was pregnant with twins, Sam hoped to have a breastmilk stash ready in case they arrived earlier than expected.
“I actually started making drops of milk the second day. It quickly went up to making an ounce in a day,” Sam shares. “And then after a couple weeks, it was an ounce every pump, and then by the time the twins were born, it was 40-plus ounces a day, so I was making more than a full supply for one baby.”
Though Sam says she was “lucky” that her body so readily made milk for the boys, she also put in the time.
“You can’t miss a pump,” she said. For the 13 months that she was pumping and breastfeeding the twins, Sam didn’t sleep more than four hours at a stretch.
Inducing lactation takes time and commitment
Sam’s experience isn’t just a one-off.
Amelia Henning, a certified nurse midwife and director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s lactation program, has helped other non-birthing parents induce lactation. When individuals are healthy and devote the time and commitment, “my experience is that most can make some amount of milk,” she tells TODAY.com.
The protocol that Sam followed, however, includes the use of domperidone, a drug that is not available in the U.S.
“The commitment to pumping on the schedule of a newborn is a big factor in success with milk production,” Henning adds. “Many folks find it hard to do this before the adorable newborn has arrived!”
Though of course “fed is best,” many women feel the desire — or pressure — to breastfeed, but as Sam discovered, it is difficult to find a professional to help you through this process.
“There just are not that many providers — midwives, physicians, nurse practitioners — who are trained in advanced breastfeeding and lactation care,” It is an area that has traditionally been neglected in medical training and in health care.
Breastfeeding twins
Henning notes that inducing lactation is most successful when the baby can be put to the breast immediately after delivery. Luckily, the Conways were able to do just that.
“I latched in the operating room,” Sam shares. “It was really cool to start nursing that that very first day.”
Though she had a good start, breastfeeding still had its challenges: the boys both had tongue ties that needed to be corrected, and one was tiny and initially lacked the stamina to nurse. But with the help of medical professionals, Sam nursed or fed the boys exclusively with breastmilk for six months, and she weaned them at 11 months.
Knowing that her wife was taking on the lion’s share of feeding responsibilities was a huge relief for Allie, who had never planned to breastfeed.
“I had a really hard time with pregnancy. Knowing that once the babies were here, I could just have a minute to breathe was so reassuring,” says Allie. “It was such a sense of relief, and it was so cool to be able to be in it together in a way.”
Though she had to devote many, many hours to the task, Sam doesn’t regret it for a second.
“I loved it. I think it was so worth it,” she says.
“Yeah, you never complained,” says Allie.
Sam says, “I’d definitely do it again.”
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