You sometimes may notice that your milk does not flow easily, or let down, when you attempt to breast-feed or use a breast pump. Emotional stress, fatigue, anxiety, smoking, pain, or being cold are common causes of poor let-down.

With poor let-down, you may not experience the tingling and leaking of milk that usually occurs when your milk begins to flow. You may develop sore nipples because your baby has to work harder or you have to pump longer to get the breasts to release milk.

Increasing your comfort and level of relaxation often helps.