To Breast-Feed or Not to Breast-Feed?

Abstract

For the infant's well-being, breastfeeding is preferable to formula-feeding, but for the mother, breast-feeding has both advantages and disadvantages. If breast-feeding is to be successful, the mother must want to nurse her baby. She also must be in good health and without a family history of breast cancer, maintain an adequate diet during both pregnancy and lactation, and not take drugs potentially dangerous to the baby. Other important factors include effective breast stimulation by suckling, adequate removal of milk, intact hypothalamic-hypophyseal function, and normal sympathetic-adrenal tone.