I have to enter this particular discussion.  The 5% figure that is so often
cited refers to women who are THOUGHT not to have enough milk.  This has
never been found to refer to DEHYDRATED babies. More to the point, many
mothers THINK they haven't enough milk when there is absolutely NO EVIDENCE
WHATEVER (yes, I am shouting!) that their babies are not thriving.  In
fact, there are studies that have shown that INSUFFICIENT milk is often a
PERCEIVED problem, rather than a proven one.

Furthermore (I need to catch my breath; the oxygen is rapidly disappearing
up here), what Marianne Neifert may have found in her clinic may be VERY
VERY DIFFERENT from the normal population since she has run a referral
clinic for years--meaning she, like me, is very likely to see far more
mothers who fear they haven't enough milk and some who really don't than
would be the case in the general population.  Why?  People who are
breastfeeding without difficulty are not going to see her.  I have the same
problem when people ask me to describe the popualtion of women I see in my
practice.  Because I get referrals for the "fix it or I am quitting; I have
seen [fill in the blank] people and they couldn't help me" mothers, there
is no way I can generalize to the larger population based on my patient
sample.

If we are asked about the 5% figure, we need to stop, take a deep breath,
and then reinforce the notion that if that many mothers did not make enough
milk, the population of the world in advance of the advent of modern
formulas would not have grown as rapidly as it has/did.  MOre to the point,
we need to quote other studies that have shown thousands of women
breastfeeding without difficulty.

Yes, it may be true that some women's breasts don't have enough glandular
tissue; and yes, some babies do not suck sufficiently to effect milk
transfer to sustain life.  BUT, how many they are we really DO NOT KNOW.
Until numerous carefully conducted studies have been done, we will NEVER
KNOW.

I, for one, do not believe that 5% of all mothers breastfeeding is an
accurate estimate, in spite of who was reported having said it.

Gotta climb down; my fingers and toes are blue....

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"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly
disguised as impossible situations."
Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Ferndale, WA USA) [log in to unmask]
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