IBLCE® has been tracking a set of articles about infant feeding recently published by The Economist. Two of the articles, both published in May, dealt with different aspects of lactation.
The article ‘Mothers who cannot breastfeed have been given terrible advice’ claimed that having no field of ‘lactology’ leaves an ‘absence of hard facts’ so that non-physicians who provide lactation support ‘often base their counsel on hunch’. Another article, ‘Why many women cannot make enough breast milk’, theorised that the main cause of ‘low milk supply’ may be biological, while the second purported there is no ‘dedicated field’ for human lactation, ignoring over 40 years of history and such notable peer-reviewed publications as the International Breastfeeding Journal and the Journal of Human Lactation.
To better inform The Economist readers, IBLCE crafted a yet-to-be-published Letter to the Editor to provide an accurate and more comprehensive look at these issues. The full letter is available below.
IBLCE sincerely thanks the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) for noting the rigour of the IBCLC credential in its May 25, 2026, Letter to the Editor in response.
May 29, 2026
Dear Editors:
Regarding the two recent articles published about breastfeeding and breast milk supply:
• Why many women cannot make enough breast milk, published May 12, 2026
• Mothers who cannot breastfeed have been given terrible advice, published May 14, 2026
Thank you for bringing attention to the experiences of breastfeeding mothers with low milk supply and the need to destigmatise this condition. As both articles note, the claim that mothers with low milk supply are ‘just not trying hard enough’ is unfounded and only serves as a barrier to breastfeeding success. However, the article ‘Mothers who cannot breastfeed have been given terrible advice’ takes a decidedly different tack.
Regarding the second article, it appears that perhaps it is The Economist that has received less than accurate or comprehensive advice. The article could leave readers with an erroneous impression of professional lactation care.
The discipline of professional lactation care is over 50 years old, not a nascent field as implied by your article. The International Board Certified Lactation Consultant® (IBCLC®) is a rigorous global professional certification, established in 1985 and including over 39,000 current certificants in 137 countries. The IBCLC, widely regarded as the gold standard in lactation care, and holder of a highly valued objective third-party accreditation in healthcare for close to 40 years, includes stringent eligibility, clinical practice and recertification requirements; adherence to a professional code of conduct; as well as the passing of a professional certification examination developed by lactation subject matter experts in consultation with doctoral-level psychometricians. The subject matter experts come from a variety of relevant professional backgrounds such as nurses, physicians, midwives, dietitians, speech-language pathologists and researchers. The Detailed Content Outline setting forth the domains of knowledge which serve as the foundation of the credential, including the requisite professional certification examination, specifically includes knowledge regarding hormonal influence on milk production, milk supply, foods influencing lactation, managing milk supply as well as lactation research. While there is indeed a spectrum of lactation care providers, assigning blame to either mothers or lactation consultants is neither informative nor constructive for your readership.
To contextualise this article, given the history and rigour of the IBCLC programme, use of the latest term du jour, ‘lactology’, ignores over 40 years of professional breastfeeding care and the well-established discipline of human lactation. Readers may also wish to familiarise themselves with the extensive peer-reviewed lactation knowledge and research available for decades in publications such as the Journal of Human Lactation and the International Breastfeeding Journal.
IBCLCs play a vital role in the peripartum continuum of care, serving as clinical experts, educators, promoters, advocacy and policy consultants, facilitators, investigators and interprofessional collaborators who deliver demonstrable improvements in maternal and child morbidity and mortality, patient satisfaction, employee productivity and health expenditures. (Ahmed et al., 2026).
Recognising biological and physiological causes for low milk supply could reduce guilt and stigma, improve medical diagnosis and lead to more personalised feeding support, yet it is only part of a solution that should include space for the IBCLC, the specialist in professional lactation care, as well as other professionals, employers, peers and advocates, to collaborate to create an ecosystem worthy of future generations.
Sincerely,
Neelam Jawad, MBBS, MCPS, IBCLC
Chair
Sara Blair Lake, J.D., CAE
CEO
Lilly Hubschman-Shahar, DNP, RN, NNP-BC, IBCLC, PMH-C
Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives
References
Ahmed, A. H., Rojjanasrirat, W., Malik, S., Mandell, L., Ansell, M., & Zakarija-Grković, I. (2026). The Role and Impact of the IBCLC: Updated Position Paper. Journal of Human Lactation. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08903344261434475