# Two bosom questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598 "2003-04-14T10:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/1 "2003-04-14T10:45:57Z")
1. Say a nursing mother was stranded on her own with no means of sustenance. How long could she survive living off her own breast milk? 2. Is it possible for a women who’s not nursing to palpate her boobies and trick them into producing milk? Just, y’know, wondering… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![phraser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e4f/32.png) [@phraser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phraser)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/2 "2003-04-14T11:00:07Z")
Well… if a nursing mother were stranded with no means of sustenance, she’d stop lactating, or else start losing body weight. In fact, she’d probably die quicker if she were drinking her breast milk because there’s an energy cost in converting body tissue to milk. She’d be losing out on energy. Sorry, I can’t help with the second part though. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/3 "2003-04-14T11:03:56Z")
1. Yes, it is possible to manually express breast milk, but for many women it would be intolerably uncomfortable; there exist all kind of suction pumps designed specifically for this purpose, but again, not all women (although probably a higher proportion this time) are able to comfortably use them. ---
**Author:** ![ImmortalBlade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@ImmortalBlade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ImmortalBlade)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/4 "2003-04-14T11:19:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*2. Yes, it is possible to manually express breast milk, but for many women it would be intolerably uncomfortable; there exist all kind of suction pumps designed specifically for this purpose, but again, not all women (although probably a higher proportion this time) are able to comfortably use them. \*\* Thats provided they are already producing milk isnt it? He is asking about forcing a woman not naturaly producing milk to begin producing milk. And the woman’s body would quickly stop producing milk if she were stranded with out any supplys. But if I had to think about it, She would probly be better off not drinking her own milk, as it would take more energy to change the protein she has into milk than it would just to use the protein as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/5 "2003-04-14T12:22:23Z")
I believe it is possible for non-nursing females to be stimulated into producing milk, but I may be wrong; I’ll search for a definitive answer. ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/6 "2003-04-14T12:29:06Z")
Thankee, Mangetout of the Shires. I’m a girlie, by the way, **ImmortalBlade.** I was actually thinking about what would happen if I personally ever got stranded without food and water. But I also think that the idea of a woman surviving on breastmilk would be a cool motif in a novel, doncha think? Kind of like that Stephen King story of that guy cannibalising himself. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/7 "2003-04-14T12:36:46Z")
Accpording the the [La Leche League](http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/adopt.html), the answer to #2 is “yes” for most women. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/8 "2003-04-14T13:20:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*But I also think that the idea of a woman surviving on breastmilk would be a cool motif in a novel, doncha think? Kind of like that Stephen King story of that guy cannibalising himself. \*\* Hey, there was the Grapes of Wrath. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-bosom-questions/168598/9 "2003-04-14T13:20:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I believe it is possible for non-nursing females to be stimulated into producing milk, but I may be wrong; I’ll search for a definitive answer. \*\* This isn’t exactly the same, but I was watching a documentry on something similar. I don’t remember how it got started but a female dog had come to think that some puppies were her babies (actually their’s a slight chace they weren’t even puppies, coulda been kittens even, anyway…) she started protecting them like a mother and doing all that motherly stuff. Very soon, she got so attached, that even though she hadn’t been prenent, she began producing milk for them.