The Correlation of Lactating Womenûs Breast Size and Breast Milk Production

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between lactating womenûs breast size and breast milk production. Methods: 53 normal primiparous women with neither breastfeeding problems nor having drugs that affected milk production who delivered vaginally at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand were enrolled. On the 3rd day after delivery, breast size and breast milk volume were recorded by the same investigator at 3 hr after the last breastfeeding. Results: The means of breast size and breast milk volume in this study were 13.5 ± 3.7 cm and 47.8 ± 18.3 ml, respectively. Regarding to the Pearson correlation test, breast milk volume had no significant correlation with breast size (rs= -0.112, p > 0.05), but showed a negative correlation with the maternal age (rs= -0.27, p < 0.05). Conclusion: There is no significant correlation between breast milk volume and breast size. The small breast size woman should be counseled and reassured to get more confidence in breast feeding.

Keywords

• Breast feeding
• breast milk volume
• breast size
• correlation