Breast-feeding challenges

CHICAGO — Bente White was willing to try almost anything to breast-feed her infant son.

She used fenugreek, blessed thistle, alfalfa, nettle, fennel, goat's rue, bitter lettuce, brewer's yeast, hops, oatmeal and two pharmaceutical drugs to increase her milk production. Nothing worked very well.

"You name it and I tried it," said White, 32, a physical therapist from Suffolk, Va., who was forced to supplement baby Austin's diet with formula. "I never thought breast-feeding would be this complicated and challenging."

Almost 75 percent of U.S. babies now begin...