June 15, 2023 | Originally published in MedPage Today
By: Brianna Clark, DO
As a family physician and lactation consultant, I often see patients who struggle to breastfeed. Usually, they blame themselves. Are they holding the baby wrong? Forgetting to alternate sides?
The actual problem might have nothing to do with the breastfeeding person, and, in some cases, may be the result of factors beyond individual control.
I practice in rural Kansas, in an area surrounded by dairy farms. Here, it is common knowledge that cattle don’t do well in the heat. Cows are mammals — milk producers — just like us. When it gets too hot, cows produce less milkopens in a new tab or window, and their milk is less nutritious.
If extreme heat affects lactation in dairy cows, are humans affected, too? The problem is, we just don’t know, because the issue has not been properly researched…READ THE FULL ARTICLE>
Brianna Clark, DO, is an osteopathic physician and certified lactation counselor based in Kingwood, Texas; she practices in Kansas. Clark is a 2023 Climate Health Equity Fellowopens in a new tab or window with the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health.