Breastfeeding

Research reported in the August 2006 edition of Women’s Health Issues indicates that women who are employed full-time are significantly less likely to initiate breastfeeding or to breastfeed their infants at all. Researchers based their conclusions...

Lactation Support Important

A study in the British Medical Journal found that antenatal (prior to birth) breastfeeding education and postnatal (after birth) lactation support both significantly increased the rates of exclusive breastfeeding up to six months after delivery. In...

Iron Supplementation of Breastfed Babies

A study published in the February 2009 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found, in a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial, that early iron supplementation of breastfed infants transiently increased iron status during...

Promotion of Breastfeeding

In the October Annals of Internal Medicine, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF), which makes recommendations about preventive care services in the United States, published its recommendation that interventions to promote and support...

Breastfeeding Legislation Increases Rates

A study published in the October 2008 edition of the American Journal of Public Health found state variations in breastfeeding initiation and duration, where western and northwestern states had the highest rates. Additionally, researchers found that...

Breastfeeding and Cholesterol

A study published in the August 2008 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that initial breastfeeding, especially when exclusive, may be associated with modestly lower blood cholesterol concentrations later in life. Researchers found this...

Breastfeeding and GI Disease and Iron Deficiency

A study from the Journal of Nutrition found that predominantly breast-fed term infants for the first six months of life are half as likely to have gastrointestinal infections (GI) compared to formula fed (defined as consuming no human milk by three...

Is Breast Really Best

A critical analysis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Ad Council’s National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaigns (NBAC) was published in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law by Joan Wolf, Ph.D. of Texas A&M...

Breastfed Babies and Iron Deficiency

A study published in Breastfeeding Medicine suggests that infants fully breastfed for 6 months or more in the United States may be at increased risk of iron deficiency and anemia. This study analyzed data from two nationally conducted cross-...

Breastfeeding Rates and Gift Packs

A recent study, “Infant Formula Marketing Through Hospitals: the Impact of Commercial Hospital Discharge Packs on Breastfeeding” was published in the American Journal of Public Health in the February 2008 edition.1 In this study, the authors...