Breastfeeding News and Research

Latest Breastfeeding News and Research

Gastroenterologist cautions against over-prescription of acid-suppressing drugs in infants

Frequent spitting up, irritability, and unexplained crying in infants can be very distressing to parents. Pediatricians often prescribe acid-suppressing drugs for these symptoms in an effort to treat infants for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD); however, GERD is an uncommon cause of these symptoms in otherwise thriving infants.

21 Oct 2011

Breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigates pain in preterm neonates

Poorly managed pain in the neonatal intensive care unit has serious short- and long-term consequences, causing physiological and behavioral instability in preterm infants and long-term changes in their pain sensitivity, stress arousal systems, and developing brains. In a study published in the November issue of PAIN-, researchers report that breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigated pain in preterm neonates with mature breastfeeding behaviors.

19 Oct 2011

American Academy of Pediatrics expands guidelines on safe sleep for babies

Since the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended all babies should be placed on their backs to sleep in 1992, deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome have declined dramatically. But sleep-related deaths from other causes, including suffocation, entrapment and asphyxia, have increased.

19 Oct 2011

Link between breastfeeding and long-term sleep issues

While breastfed babies initially awaken more during the night for feedings, their sleep patterns -- falling asleep, staying asleep and total sleep time -- stabilize in later infancy and become comparable to non-breastfed babies, according to an abstract presented Monday, Oct. 17, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Boston.

18 Oct 2011

Fathers of low-income children support breastfeeding

Preliminary research suggests that fathers of low-income children support breastfeeding but are unsure how to influence or help their child's mother (their partner) with breastfeeding, according to new research presented Monday, Oct. 17, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Boston.

18 Oct 2011

Lifestyle factors and nutritional patterns reduce early causes of childhood allergy

Today, about one in four European children suffer from allergy, which makes this disease the non-infectious epidemic of the 21st century. Evidence suggests that lifestyle factors and nutritional patterns, such as breastfeeding, help to reduce the early symptoms of allergy.

15 Oct 2011

NICHQ receives CDC grant to accelerate number of U.S. Baby-Friendly hospitals

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded nearly $6 million over three years to the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality to help hospitals nationwide make quality improvements to maternity care to better support mothers and babies to be able to breastfeed. The goal of the project is to accelerate the number of U.S. Baby-Friendly hospitals.

14 Oct 2011

Perinatal exposure to BPA affects mammary hormone response

A recent study accepted for publication in Molecular Endocrinology, a journal of The Endocrine Society, found that perinatal exposure to environmentally relevant doses of bisphenol A (BPA) alters long-term hormone response and breast development in mice that may increase the propensity to develop cancer.

3 Oct 2011

New research analyses maternal breastfeeding in Spain

New research analyses maternal breastfeeding in Spain throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Experts believe that its development is associated with socio-demographic factors such as the advice of healthcare professionals, longer maternity leave, a woman's integration into the workplace and her level of education.

1 Oct 2011

Literacy Bridge launches program to improve health of women, at-risk children across rural Ghana

Literacy Bridge is responding to the need for a comprehensive solution in global health and hunger by kicking off its Health & Agriculture Communication for Women & Children Program, which is designed to improve the health of 24,000 women and at-risk children in 75 low-literate communities across rural Ghana.

1 Oct 2011

Helsinn commences Netupitant/Palonosetron Phase III combination study in CINV

Helsinn Group and Eisai Inc. announced today that Helsinn has commenced a multi-centered Phase III clinical study program investigating the Netupitant/Palonosetron (300mg/0.50mg) oral fixed-dose combination for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

23 Sep 2011

World leaders unanimously approve NCD political declaration

World leaders attending the first-ever U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) kicked off the summit on Monday by "unanimously approving a 'political declaration' meant to stem a rising tide of NCDs, now the world's leading killer," CNN reports.

21 Sep 2011

A woman's pregnancy outcome can be an indicator of future health conditions

"A woman's pregnancy outcome can be an indicator of future health conditions," stated George R. Saade, M.D., president of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

14 Sep 2011

Tips for choosing a childbirth education class

A recent report from the World Health Organization set off alarm bells for many expectant parents. The report showed that newborns in 40 countries, including Cuba, South Korea and Poland, have a lower risk of death than newborns in the United States.

13 Sep 2011

Gates Foundation's Ananya Alliance aims to improve newborn health in India

Usha Kiran Tarigopula, deputy director in global health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes about the Foundation's partnership with the state of Bihar, India through the Ananya Alliance "aimed at reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality by 40 percent by 2015," in this "Inpatient Optimists" blog post, which is part of a series called "Global Conversations on Newborn Health in India."

12 Sep 2011

Oxycodone no safer than codeine for breastfed infants: New study

Doctors have been prescribing codeine for postpartum pain management for many years, and, until recently, it was considered safe to breastfeed while taking the opioid. But the death of an infant exposed to codeine through breast milk has many health care providers questioning the safety of the drug when used by breastfeeding mothers.

7 Sep 2011