Breastmilk Insufficiency: A Dance Between Biology & Culture

The primary focus of this book is the phenomenon of breastmilk insufficiency. As we might expect, the concept of breastmilk volume is as puzzling to breastfeeding mothers as it is to researchers, since the amount of breastmilk an infant consumes when breastfeeding is generally impossible for the breastfeeding mother to know exactly. So, the phenomenon of breastmilk insufficiency is basically the "perception" by the mother of not having enough breastmilk for her infant at some point during lactation. The implication of this perception can be devastating when mothers eventually stop breastfeeding altogether. Unfortunately, the perception of breastmilk insufficiency is increasing worldwide, and, more than ever, we need to understand the causation of the phenomenon to take concrete measures to curb it. There is also a need to examine variation in breastfeeding patterns in different cultures.