Failure in lactation…..a myth or reality?

Many researchers worldwide believe that there is no such thing as failure of lactation. It is never real and on the contrary it is only the indifferent attitude of the mother towards breast feeding. They regard it as messy, an encroachment on their activities and so on. There is a great deal of evidence that attitude of the mother has a great bearing on the success or failure of lactation. All mothers should remember not to rush for artificial feeding as soon as you encounter some difficulty in starting the baby on breast feeding. This will only hamper on the very production of milk by the mother. There are certain conditions of the breasts that may contribute to the failure of breast feeding. For example sore or cracked nipples. This condition can be cure by taking the baby off feeding for a temporary period and apply some cream to the nipple. Resume feeding when the nipple is healed. Retracted nipples cause difficulty in the withdrawal of the areola into the baby’s mouth that is in sucking. In such conditions press the areola between the thumb and the index finger just before the nipple is put inside the mouth of the baby. If it does not work use a nipple shield temporarily. So just because you have some difficulty in initiating the baby on breast feeding is not a good reason to “call it a day”.