Breastfeeding fallacies: their relationship to understanding lactation.

When inaccurate information is the basis for clinical decision making, patient care is likely to be incomplete, inappropriate, and potentially harmful. We identified 17 fallacies relating to lactation and breastfeeding that exist in the professional and lay literature and that continue to be perpetuated among care providers and shared with new mothers. The inappropriateness and inaccuracy of these beliefs, and how they influence attitudes about, and practices relating to, breastfeeding, are discussed. Alternatives to these fallacies exist, and their use may contribute to more relevant care and advice giving, and to successful breastfeeding.