I have read with interest the ongoing discussion about percentages relating
to women with inadequate milk production.

I would like to reiterate what I have said privately to several people (call
me lazy, if you wish).

First, until carefully conducted (with appropriate definitions and
distinctions) studies are reported with large numbers of women, we will
NEVER know how many women in a given population are likely to have
inadequate milk production difficulties.

Second, before applying a specific percentage to this likelihood, it is
essential that you know from what kind of practice population that
percentage derives.  Were I to use MY private practice, I would have to
conclude that nearly 50% of the mothers have inadequate milk production
problems.  Why?  Because I get many referrals for this problem!  My practice
in no way reflects what people in most hospitals are likely to see or what
people in a practice that does not accept such referrals would see.  In a
general practice of any profession, the special problems are likely to
represent a very small minority; in a specialty practice, those some
problems are likely to represent a far larger portion of the whole.

WHERE did Marianne Neifert get that 5% figure? From her own referral
practice? from someone else's?  How was inadequate milk production defined?
When was it identified (that is, how old were the babies and how long had
the mothers been attempting to breastfeed? and so on....

The questions one must ask before accepting as whole cloth this particular
lactational fabric are myriad.  And they should serve as a caution to us
all.

While there is no such thing as an absolute in Nature, let me suggest one in
our all-too-imperfect world:  NEVER accept a speaker's claims without asking
for direction to their references or the sources they used to come up with
said statements.  A knowledgeable speaker should be able to tell you their
sources; if they can't remember, they should be willing to provide same if
you give them a stamped, self-addressed envelope. And, if they cannot recall
or do not know, they should be wise enough to say, "I don't know; let me get
back to you."

Am out of oxygen; must get down....

Kathleen G. Auerbach, PhD, IBCLC
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Kathleen B. Bruce, BSN, IBCLC co-owner Lactnet, Indep. Consultant
Williston, Vermont
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://homepages.together.net/~kbruce/kbblact.html
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