ReviewNutrients2019
What Evidence Do We Have for Pharmaceutical Galactagogues in the Treatment of Lactation Insufficiency?-A Narrative Review.
Review in Nutrients, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04614714 (Nicotinamide Riboside and Milk Production in the NICU), which is not on this map. Cited by 26 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Nicotinamide Riboside and Milk Production in the NICU
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- Herbal galactagogues to improve breastmilk production and lactation in mothers of preterm babies: a systematic review of clinical trials.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Breastfeeding interventions for preventing postpartum depression.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for postpartum hypogalactia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Oral galactagogues (natural therapies or drugs) for increasing breast milk production in mothers of non-hospitalised term infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- First-in-Human Study of Merotocin, a Short-Acting Peptidic Oxytocin Receptor Agonist for Lactation Support.Clinical pharmacology in drug development · 2025Trial
- Article
- Breastfeeding Counseling Practices Among Plastic Surgeons: Results From a National Survey.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- Effects and mechanism of puerarin on lactation of postpartum hypogalactia mice.Iranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2025Article
- Efficacy and safety of domperidone and metoclopramide on human milk production in postpartum mothers: a bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Increased Cardiometabolic Risk in Men with Hypoprolactinemia: A Pilot Study.Biomolecules · 2024Article
- The Aqueous Extract ofFoods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The diagnosis and prevalence of hypoprolactinemia in patients with panhypopituitarism and the effects on depression and sexual functions.Pituitary · 2024Article
- The Potential of Chicken-Herb Essence to Improve Milk Production and Infant Health in the Sprague Dawley Animal Model.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Lactation in the human.Animal frontiers : the review magazine of animal agriculture · 2023Article
- Parental factors that impact the ecology of human mammary development, milk secretion, and milk composition-a report from "Breastmilk Ecology: Genesis of Infant Nutrition (BEGIN)" Working Group 1.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Article
- Women's experiences with using domperidone as a galactagogue to increase breast milk supply: an australian cross-sectional survey.International breastfeeding journal · 2023Article
- Potential role of β-carotene-modulated autophagy in puerperal breast inflammation (Review).Biomedical reports · 2022Review
- Lactational Amenorrhea: Neuroendocrine Pathways Controlling Fertility and Bone Turnover.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Mothers in Need of Lactation Support May Benefit from Early Postnatal Galactagogue Administration: Experience from a Single Center.Nutrients · 2021Article
- "Fear of stopping" vs "wanting to get off the medication": exploring women's experiences of using domperidone as a galactagogue - a qualitative study.International breastfeeding journal · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Inadequate breast milk supply is a frequently reported reason for early discontinuation of breastfeeding and represents a critical opportunity for intervening to improve breastfeeding outcomes. For women who continue to experience insufficient milk supply despite the utilisation of non-pharmacological lactation support strategies, pharmacological intervention with medications used to augment lactation, commonly referred to as galactagogues, is common. Galactagogues exert their pharmacological effects through altering the complex hormonal milieu regulating lactation, particularly prolactin and oxytocin. This narrative review provides an appraisal of the existing evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of pharmaceutical treatments for lactation insufficiency to guide their use in clinical practice. The greatest body of evidence surrounds the use of domperidone, with studies demonstrating moderate short-term improvements in breast milk supply. Evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of metoclopramide is less robust, but given that it shares the same mechanism of action as domperidone it may represent a potential treatment alternative where domperidone is unsuitable. Data on remaining interventions such as oxytocin, prolactin and metformin is too limited to support their use in clinical practice. The review provides an overview of key evidence gaps and areas of future research, including the impacts of pharmaceutical galactagogues on breast milk composition and understanding factors contributing to individual treatment response to pharmaceutical galactagogues.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.