Breastfeeding

Many women choose to breastfeed their babies due to the significant health benefits provided over infant formula for both baby and mother. Any amount of breastfeeding has positive effects and the longer a child is breastfed for, the longer the health benefits will last for both baby and mother.

What is Breastfeeding?

Breast milk from the mother, or another lactating mother (in case of unwilling mothers and royalty), has nourished, protected and helped raise babies since time immemorial. Like all mammals humans possess mammary glands for the purpose of feeding their infants before they are ready for food from other sources.

Breastfeeding Questions

When Should I Not Breastfeed My Baby?

Breastfeeding and Diet

Breastfeeding and Allergies

Breastfeeding: Smoking, Drugs and Alcohol

Breastfeeding and Medications

What are the Health Benefits of Breastfeeding?

Sleeping Close to Baby

Breastfeeding, Preparing for Arrival

How do I Manage Breastfeeding and Work?

Breastfeeding Pumps

See more featured articles »

Breast Anatomy

Breastfeeding and Hormones

Breastfeeding Tips

What is Breast Compression?

Correct Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding and Vitamin D

Breastfeeding Around Family

Breastfeeding and Jaundice

Breastfeeding and Reflux

Breastfeeding and Cleft Palate, Cleft Lip

Breastfeeding Twins or Multiples

Breastfeeding During Pregnancy

Breastfeeding after Breast Surgery

Breastfeeding Inducing Lactation

Storing Breast Milk

What is a Galactocele?

Overactive Let-Down (OALD) Reflex

Smoking and Breastfeeding

Latest Breastfeeding News and Research

Essential coaching for mothers during COVID-19

Pregnancy and childbirth are especially high-risk periods for mental ill-health. The mobile health program called Essential Coaching for Every Mother (ECEM) was designed to meet the needs of mothers during this critical time, but its introduction was delayed because of the onset of the pandemic.

19 Jan 2021

Lactating women should discuss risks and benefits of COVID-19 vaccination, says ABM

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) does not recommend cessation of breastfeeding for individuals who are vaccinated against COVID-19.

13 Jan 2021

Antibodies and inflammatory markers are pervasive in colostrum of SARS-CoV-2 infected women

A recent study, currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server, is among the first to reveal the presence of antibodies against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in colostrum and to demonstrate elevated cytokine levels in colostrum from women exposed to the virus.

7 Jan 2021

Innovative artistic intervention can help reduce fatal health threat to young African children

The fatal threat from diarrhea and pneumonia to young children in the world's poorer countries can be drastically reduced by using traditional performing arts to encourage mothers to provide youngsters with safe food and water, a new study reveals.

7 Jan 2021

Research offers clues on why pregnancy may raise risk of organ transplant rejection

A research study at the University of Chicago has found that in pregnancy, while the T cell response to a fetus becomes tolerant to allow for successful pregnancy, the part of the immune system that produces antibodies (known as the humoral response) becomes sensitized, creating memory B cells that can later contribute to the rejection of a transplanted organ.

4 Jan 2021

A new handbook for treating infections in pregnant patients

Pregnancy and Anti-Infective Agents is a concise clinical reference that facilitates health consultants and professionals for determining treatment options for some common prenatal and postpartum infections during pregnancy and the puerperium in patients.

4 Jan 2021

Drinking cow's milk during breastfeeding linked to reduced risk of food allergies in children

Children of mothers who drink relatively more cow's milk during breastfeeding are at reduced risk of developing food allergies. That is the conclusion of researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, in a new study published in the scientific journal Nutrients.

21 Dec 2020

Drinking milk during breastfeeding can reduce food allergy in children

21 Dec 2020

Two major grants offer support for international mother-baby iron supplements study

A Melbourne-led research consortium investigating the impact of iron treatments on maternal and newborn health in low-income countries has received two major grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation worth almost $US 9.6 million.

17 Dec 2020

Mother's diet while breastfeeding can shape the profile of human milk oligosaccharides

Research has shown that human milk is the optimal nutrition source for neonates and infants. It confers protection against both immediately life-threatening infant diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis, as well as later onset diseases in adults, like obesity, diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.

16 Dec 2020

Lipid metabolite in human breast milk can benefit the offspring in early postnatal period

A lipid metabolite called 12,13-diHOME is in human breast milk and appears to be associated with beneficial infant weight gain and body composition in the early postnatal period.

9 Dec 2020

Midwife-led interventions could avert two-thirds of maternal, newborn deaths and stillbirths by 2035

About two-thirds of maternal deaths, newborn deaths and stillbirths could be prevented by 2035 if the current level of care by professional midwives educated and regulated to international standards was scaled up to provide universal access, finds a new study led by the United Nations Population Fund, WHO, and the International Confederation of Midwives published today in the Lancet Global Health.

3 Dec 2020

Infants show high night-to-night variability in sleeping patterns

New parents often expect their baby to start sleeping through the night around the time they reach six months of age.

2 Dec 2020

Multiple pregnancies may affect the body's physical aging process

Having children doesn't just make you feel like you've aged overnight -- a new study led by Penn State researchers found that the number of times a person gives birth may also affect the body's physical aging process.

1 Dec 2020

Pregnant women with COVID-19 have low risk of developing severe symptoms

Pregnant women who test positive for COVID-19 and their newborn babies have a low risk of developing severe symptoms, according to a new study from UT Southwestern.

19 Nov 2020

Children born via Cesarean section may face increased risk of infection

According to the results of a new study, children born via cesarean section may be at an increased risk of hospitalization due to infection in their first years.

19 Nov 2020

Modifiable risk factors in the first 1000 days of life predict higher adiposity and cardiometabolic risk

Early life risk factors in the first 1000 days cumulatively predict higher obesity and cardiometabolic risk in early adolescence, according to new research led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.

16 Nov 2020

Care pathways for pregnant women with COVID‐19

A recent review published in the journal Global Challenges in October 2020, sums up what is currently known about the treatment of COVID-19 during pregnancy and offers recommendations for how healthcare professions might better manage pregnant COVID-19 patients in the future.

16 Nov 2020

Maternal exposure to flame retardants causes diabetes in offspring

A new UC Riverside study shows flame retardants found in nearly every American home cause mice to give birth to offspring that become diabetic.

10 Nov 2020

Trial results show CAB LA is more effective in preventing HIV acquisition in women

The HIV Prevention Trials Network study (HPTN 084) on the safety and efficacy of the long-acting injectable antiretroviral drug cabotegravir (CAB LA), for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in HIV-uninfected women, was stopped early by the trial Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) as results showed CAB LA to be highly effective in preventing HIV acquisition.

10 Nov 2020