>Lara Hopkins posted:
>
>On 10/12/2003, at 6:36, Julia R. Barrett wrote:
>[snip]Marianne R. Neifert;
> > "Prevention of Breastfeeding Tragedies," Pediatric Clinics of North
> > America
> > 48(2): 273-97, April 2001. It doesn't go into a lot of detail about the
> > numbers, but cites a study in which 15% of primips had insufficient
> > lactation at 2-3 weeks postpartum. Of these women, insufficiency was
> > secondary to problems such as poor latch and inappropriate scheduling
> > in two-thirds. In one-third of the cases, there was a primary problem
> > such as maternal illness or previous breast damage (e.g., through surgery).
>
>In other words, 5% of the population had genuine low milk supply that
>wouldn't necessarily be prevented with good postpartum support and
>information? That's "very common" in  my language, not "extremely
>rare". There is no way the medical profession would accept organ
>failure statistics like that in a young healthy population where any
>other organ of the body is concerned. Why is it just accepted that 5%
>of women will suffer lactation failure?
>
></rhetorical question mode>

Rhetorical, schmetorical. ;-)

The point of the article was not to endorse acceptance of a 5% failure
rate. Far from it. The 5% is "insufficient lactation" not "lactation
failure." The article was meant to heighten awareness that there are
serious breastfeeding challenges out there; proper recognition and
treatment are needed to prevent tragedies from occurring. In some cases the
insufficiency can be overcome; in others, it cannot.

Some of the cited reasons for insufficiency: failure of lactogenesis due to
retained placenta, severed milk ducts from earlier surgeries (breast
reduction, breast enhancement, other breast surgeries), breast hypoplasia,
and severe maternal illness (e.g., postpartum hemorrhage with Sheehan's
syndrome). Good postpartum support and information would be invaluable in
these cases; in fact, some of these factors should be addressed before they
even become factors (e.g., breast surgeries done as well as possible to
preserve future milk production capability).

regards,
Julia

Julia R. Barrett
Freelance Science Writer
Madison, Wisconsin
608-238-8409; [log in to unmask]

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