Someone who has stopped breastfeeding their child, recently or in the past, can resume the production of leite materno for her own or an adopted infant, even without a further pregnancy. The experience of relactação varies greatly from one person to another, but many have been successful in their efforts.

Re-lactation can be desired in many situations such as the illness of a young child or the lactating parent, intolerance to artificial milk, emergency situations, or the death of the lactating parent. Re-lactation can be a potentially life-saving measure.¹

Please refer to local resources for more information and support.

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1. The World Health Organization. 1998. Relactation: A review of experience and recommendations for practice ↩︎