title: Lactation failure.
abstract: Seventy five mothers with lactation failure were studied, whose less than 4-month-old babies were admitted to the hospital. Partial lactational failure (94.7%) was noted more often than complete lactational failure (5.3%). Initiation of breastfeeding was delayed for 2 to 5 days usually for traditional reasons (77.3%) and because the mothers felt that the milk output was inadequate (92%). The various causes of lactation failure were determined and the relationship to various factors was analyzed. The commonest cause of lactation failure was insufficient milk or no milk (80%). The age, parity, education, socio-economic status, religion, family structure and urban vs rural status of mother--all had a bearing on the occurrence of lactation failure. An attempt was made to relactate all these mothers. The outcome was successful in 69.3 cases and failed in only 4% cases. In 26.7% cases, we cannot predict the outcome as the mothers hospital stay was very brief with no follow up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, GSVM Medical College, Kanpur.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chitranshi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bhalla
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007775:Lactation Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology