Experiences of women who underwent induced lactation: A literature review

Objective: This article aims to review the literature published over the past five decades related to the experiences of women who have undergone induced lactation. Methods: A comprehensive electronic search was conducted using PubMed, the Library of Congress, Google Scholar, SAGE, and ScienceDirect. The following search keywords were used: adoptive breastfeeding, induced lactation, non-puerperal lactation, extraordinary breastfeeding, and milk kinship. The search was restricted to articles written in English and published from 1956 to 2019. All study designs were included except for practice protocols. Results: A total of 50 articles about induced lactation were retrieved. Of these, 17 articles identified the experiences of women who underwent induced lactation. The articles included original papers (n=7), reviews (n=5), and case reports (n=5). Four articles were specifically related to Malaysia, and the others were international. These 17 articles concerning the experiences of women who induced lactation will be reviewed based on four themes related to inducing lactation: (a) understanding women’s perception of satisfaction, (b) emotional aspects, (c) enabling factors, and (d) challenges. Conclusion: Identifying a total of only 17 articles on induced lactation published over the last 53 years suggests that the subject is understudied. This review provides emerging knowledge regarding the experiences of women who have induced lactation in terms of satisfaction, emotions, enabling factors and challenges related to inducing lactation.

Cabergoline for suppression of puerperal lactation in a prevention of mother-to-child HIV-transmission programme in rural Malawi

This study shows that cabergoline (single oral-dose) is an acceptable, safe and effective drug for suppressing puerperal lactation. It could be of operational benefit not only for artificial feeding, but also for weaning in those that breast-feed within preventive mother-to-child HIV transmission programmes in resource-limited settings.

Usefulness of recombinant human prolactin for treatment of poor puerperal lactation in a rat model

Yoneda N, Irahara M, Saito S, Uemura H, Aono T. Usefulness of recombinant human prolactin for treatment of poor puerperal lactation in a rat model. Eur J Endocrinol 1995;133:613–7. ISSN 0804–4643 Recombinant human prolactin (r-hPRL) was produced by a line of murine C127 cells transfected with human PRL gene. To assess the biological efficacy of r-hPRL in vivo, we studied its influence on milk secretion using a rat model in which lactation was reduced by bromocriptine treatment. Puerperal rats were injected daily for 9 days after delivery with bromocriptine or bromocriptine plus r-hPRL, and lactational performance was assessed by weighing the pups. The concentrations of rat and human PRL in rat serum were measured by specific radioimmunoassays and the mammary glands were examined on postpartum day 10. Daily injection of bromocriptine (0.1 mg/rat) significantly reduced the endogenous level of rat PRL and impaired the weight gain of the pups. Administration of r-hPRL increased the serum level of human PRL. Daily injections of r-hPRL (50 μg/rat, twice a day) restored lactational performance and significantly increased the weight of the pups. The detrimental effect of bromocriptine on the mammary glands, assessed by both weight and histological appearance, was reversed by administration of r-hPRL. These results demonstrate that r-hPRL is biologically active in vivo and replacement therapy of r-hPRL is effective in improving the lactational performance in bromocriptine-treated rats, and also that r-hPRL may be useful for the treatment of women with poor lactation. Naoto Yoneda, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, The University of Tokushima, 3-18-15 Kuramoto, Tokushima 770, Japan