Q: My wife delivered a baby girl a month ago. It was a normal delivery and the baby weighed 2.5 kg. My wife is unable to breast feed the baby as there is no milk and hence started giving milk to baby through the bottle. She is under treatment for this and so that she can breast feed the baby. I would like to know what is the reason why there is no milk in the breast? Will it affect the baby as she has not had breast milk? My wife is really worried about it.

A:It is not unusual to find some mothers unable to breast feed their babies immediately after birth. It is not always easy to find a reason for failed lactation. Some mothers are very apprehensive and tense during breast feeding which adversely affects milk production and secretion. Counseling and providing a pleasant atmosphere during the time of feeds will help in initiating lactation. Sometimes drugs given to mother can suppress breast milk production. In some cases it may be because of some local problems in the breast like infection or abscess or abnormalities of the nipple. A careful examination can help to find the cause and start appropriate therapy. Even when no obvious cause is found, it is possible to induce breast milk production in some cases with drugs.