Why do some women struggle to breastfeed? A UC Santa Cruz researcher on what we know, and don’t
Like many moms, UC Santa Cruz stem cell biologist Lindsay Hinck struggled to make enough milk to feed her infant daughter. Frustrated by her low supply, she went to a lactation consultant, who advised her to wake up every night at 3 a.m. — an optimal time in the hormone cycle — to pump precious drops of “liquid gold” for her baby.
Hinck did it, but she also wondered, why was she having so much trouble and losing so much sleep while other moms had no problem feeding their newborns?
After many exhausting early hours with the pump, Hinck did what she does best: research. She found something remarkable: More than 25% of women worldwide struggle to produce enough milk to feed their infant children.
But when she looked to scientific literature for an explanation, it came up empty.
Hinck, who got a master’s degree in biochemistry from UC Davis and her Ph.D. in cancer biology from Stanford University, was shocked to realize scientists have barely studied human lactation. There was almost no information for scientists or moms about how human breast tissue makes milk.
Hinck decided to change that.