"Infant feeding: the physiological basis" (WHO, 1990) deals
in ch. 3 with health factors which may interfere with
breast-feeding. The section concerning "lactation
failure" contrasts women in traditional societies who,
despite a host of nutritional and other disadvantages, do
not generally fail to secrete milk, and women in
industrialized countries, where the "phenomenon" most
frequently occurs. After 500 or so words and limited
references, the section concludes: "Based on limited
clinical experience in industrialized countries, it appears
that a maximum in the range of 1-5% of women experience
lactation failure on purely physiological grounds." The sole
reference here is to the only citation then (or since)
available to us in Geneva, Neville MC and Neifert, MR, ed.
Lactation. New York, Plenum Press, 1983, p. 303. A quick
check of the original chapter, authored by Neifert, gives:
"On the other hand, a false notion, current among
breast-feeding enthusiasts, is 'every woman can nurse'.
While this philosophy is useful in combating the
professional tendency to wean at the slightest obstacle, it
appears that 1 to 5% of women experience lactation failure
on a physiologic basis." That's it and not a *single*
reference to the literature. If we're talking about
the same "statistic", it appears that the original has been
truncated and hardened into an absolute figure. If repeating
something often enough makes it true, then I guess that
pesky 5% figure qualifies.
Jim Akre, Nutrition, WHO, Geneva
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