increasing breast milk production for premature infants with a relaxationimagery audiotape many women whose premature infants are hospitalized in a newborn intensive care unit choose to express breast milk for their babies yet anxiety fatigue and emotional stress are powerful inhibitors of lactation to facilitate the breastfeeding experience intervention mothers were given a 20minute audio cassette tape based on relaxation and visual imagery techniques at a single followup expression of milk at the hospital approximately 1 week after enrollment they expressed 63 more breast milk than a randomized group of control mothers the fat content of the breast milk in the two groups was not significantly different among a small group of mothers whose infants were receiving mechanical ventilation the increase in milk volume compared with that of control mothers was 121 longerterm effects of the relaxationimagery approach such as extending the duration of breastfeeding or reducing parental stress after hospital discharge and the physiologic basis for the increased volume of expressed milk improved milk production v more efficient milk ejection are appropriate topics for future research