1. That pesky 5% figure
> Date:    Sun, 13 Aug 1995 22:08:34 -0500
> From:    "katherine a. dettwyler" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: That pesky 5% figure
>
  Katherine,

  Thanks for the background on the "so called" 5% figure regarding women
incapable of lactating.  I heard MA Neifert speak on this issue and she
really believes this - not uncommon for those people who see problems day
after day beginning to think everyone has a "problem."
> mentioned the issue of how many women physiologically are incapable of
> lactating.  The 5% figure was bandied about in the press the summer of
> 1994. Where did this come from?  I don't have the references on this
> topic here at home, but I can tell you the tale, and you can check it out
> for yourselves.
> The Wall Street Journal published an article on July 22 or 23, 1994, which
> mentioned the 5% figure of modern women who could not produce enough milk
> for their infants.  When questioned, they said they got this figure from
> Mary Ann Neifert, who runs a breastfeeding clinic in Denver.  She deals
> with women who are already having problems, and of course the vast
> majority of women have no problems, so she never sees them.  She said 5%
> of her clinic population seem unable to produce enough milk.  She also
> said this was true of the general population, however, and referred
> inquirers to one of Dana Raphael's books (she has written several on
> breastfeeding, including "The Tender Gift" and "Only Mothers Know" and
> I'm not sure which book was cited in this context.  Anyway, if you go to
> Raphael's discussion of this, SHE cites a study in New Zealand that found
> 5% of mothers in a hospital study couldn't produce enough milk.  If you
> go read the New Zealand hospital study, which was done in the 1950s, it
> turns out that the study had mothers nursing their newborns for one
> minute on each side every 4 hours the first day of life, for 2 minutes on
> each side every 4 hours the second day of life, for 3 minutes on each
> side every 4 hours the third day of life, and so on.  What is amazing is
> that ANY of these women produced significant amounts of milk, given the
> infrequency of feeding and the short duration of each feed.  And yet 95%
> were producing at least some milk.         The scientific literature
> shows conclusively that the more often the infant nurses, the greater the
> mother's milk supply (assuming the baby is latched on properly) AND the
> higher the fat content of her milk.  Michael Woolridge of England has
> published extensively on this topic, and his research shows that children
> allowed to nurse on cue regulate their own intake in terms of quantity
> and fat content to be just what they need. Scheduled feedings and
> limiting the duration of the child on the breast at a feed are sure-fire
> ways to reduce milk supply.  For a fascinating perspective on the history
> of the medical profession's love-affair with scheduled feedings, see the
> article by A.V. Millard in the journal Social Science and Medicine,
> 31(2):211-221.  The title of the article is "The Place of the Clock in
> Pediatric Advice," and it was published in 1990.         Many, many women
> are told by their pediatricians to nurse only so many times a day, and to
> limit the duration of the baby's nursing sessions. The baby doesn't
> remove enough milk, so less and less is made (breast milk production is a
> demand-driven system) and the baby seems more fussy and fails to gain
> weight properly.  The mother is told by her doctor that "She doesn't have
> enough milk" and must supplement.  The supplements interfere even more
> with the nursing, and soon the baby is completely weaned.  The baby's
> health is the loser, as is the mother's self-confidence and self-esteem.
> The winners?  The infant formula industry, and, indirectly, the
> pediatrician, who now gets to treat more ear infections, more allergies,
> more diarrhea, etc. etc. etc.
> Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor of Anthropology
> Texas A&M University
> co-editor of "Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives" and specialist in
> infant feeding and growth
> e-mail to [log in to unmask]
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of LACTNET Digest - 13 Aug 1995
> ***********************************
>
Martha Pitzer, RN, PhD, CLE
Columbus, Ohio
[log in to unmask]