Breastfeeding and stress: link with milk quantity?
Mothers breastfeeding: your stress does not affect the quantity of milk available for your child
Researchers from Chicago asked themselves if a mother’s perceived stress could be associated with the quantity of milk produced. 95 mothers of premature kids and 98 mothers of on term kids filled out the “Perceived Stress Visual Analogue Scale” as well as a questionnaire on sleeping difficulties and the perceived level of fatigue. The volume of each mother’s produced milk was measured during the 6th postpartum week. Stress, sleeping problems and fatigue diminished for mother that gave birth on term, which was not the case for the mothers who had premature babies. However, none of these factors were associated with the quantity of milk produced by the mother.
Title: Psychological distress and milk volume in lactating mothers..
Authors: Pamela D. Hill, Jean C. Aldag, Robert T. Chatterton, Michael Zinaman
Laboratory: College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago
Journal: Western Journal of Nurse Research (2005) 27(6) 676-93