Factors Influencing Lactation

Numerous factors have been reported to influence lactation. The role they play is hard to assess, and is generally based on either clinical impressions or inclusive evidence. Views on the importance of certain factors are conflicting, and from time to time a different factor is regarded as the most significant. Thus in the past different remedies have been advocated for difficulties in breast feeding though without any great success, beyond the stimulation of the medical and nursing profession to take more interest and care in helping women over their breast feeding difficulties. It would therefore seem desirable to assess more accurately the significance of various maternal factors which are reputed to impair lactation. The maternal factors which have been studied are age, parity, height, weight and health in pregnancy.