Induced lactation. A study of adoptive nursing by 240 women
K. G. Auerbach and J. L. Avery
Induced lactation is breast-feeding without prior pregnancy. Preparation
includes breast and nipple stimulation, supplementing the maternal diet,
and occasional use of hormones. Infants younger than 8 weeks are more
willing to nurse than infants older than 8 weeks. Previous lactation
experience is related to increased likelihood of milk production, decreased
need for supplemental fluids, and duration of breast-feeding. Tandem
nursing an older biological infant and the adoptive infant does not
guarantee an increase in milk production sufficient to meet the adoptive
infant's needs. Three fourths of the women who took part in this
questionnaire survey evaluated this experience positively, regardless of
infant age at weaning or need for supplemental fluids. Most respondents
stressed the maternal-infant relationship and its enhancement through
breast-feeding, rather than milk production, as the reason for attempting
induced lactation.
