About two percent of women cannot breastfeed. The reasons are many. In these situations, it must be particularly prudent or better still to give up altogether.
At least four out of five mothers breastfeed their baby. Virtually every woman should be able to breastfeed, if she wants it, if she has been widely informed and if she is supported by her social environment. There are, however, a few exceptions, in which even experts advise against it. Among these we find:
• Poor milk formation: in some women the glandular tissue of the breast is underdeveloped. As a result, they are unable to produce breast milk. In addition to this biological predisposition, there can also be metabolic problems, e.g. a thyroid hypofunction or a very strong hemorrhage after birth for which milk is not formed or if it forms too little.
• HIV-Aids: experts advise against HIV-positive mothers to breastfeed. There is a minimal risk of transmitting the virus to the child through milk.
• Medicaments: Taking medications can be a reason to pump breast milk and throw it away because the baby could take harmful substances through him. Breastfeeding can, however, be resumed without problems when the medicinal treatment is terminated.
• Lactose intolerance: if milk intolerance is diagnosed in the infant, it will no longer be breastfed. In these cases, it is necessary to switch to alternative forms of nutrition such as industrial preparations for infants.
In these situations, attention must be paid
• Tuberculosis / Hepatitis C: if the mother becomes ill with tuberculosis, this may mean that the mother and the baby have to be separated for a short time. Most mothers who become infected with hepatitis B or C can still continue to breastfeed without danger if proper precautions such as vaccination of the newborn are observed.
• Breast operations: after a breast operation it can be difficult if not impossible to breastfeed. Interventions to increase the breasts, as a rule, are minor problems compared to the reductions. In the case of reductive interventions, the tissue is removed with the glands that produce milk and the breast is rebuilt. In the case of additive plastic surgery, however, the prostheses are introduced under the glandular tissue, so milk production should not be compromised.
• Infectious diseases: mothers who become ill with influenza or other diseases due to bacterial infection do not necessarily have to stop breastfeeding. Proper hygiene measures or simultaneous vaccination of the mother and the child can reliably protect the child.