Breastfed infants diagnosed with “tongue tie” are being unnecessarily treated with deep laser or scissors cuts under both their tongue and upper lip in the first weeks and months of life.
If health professionals’ interpretations of a baby’s behaviours are negative, a woman may question whether breastfeeding is meeting her baby’s needs.
Justin McGregor/Flickr
A Harvard University researcher last week suggested western women stop breastfeeding after a couple of months to reduce the risk of passing potentially harmful toxins on to infants via breast milk.
Exclusive breastfeeding until children are six months old is recommended by the World Health Organisation for optimal growth of infants.
Nureldien Abdallah/Reuters
In 12 years Kenya has managed to dramatically improve its exclusive breastfeeding rates from 13% to 61%. The success has not come without challenges, and some persist.
Most of the developed world provides longer paid parental leave than Australia.
mark biddle/Flickr
New and expectant parents are among the biggest losers in this year’s budget. From July 2016 primary carers will lose access to government paid parental leave if their workplace also provides leave.
Ready for porridge!! Approaching six months baby Joe loves his mushed up food.
Olivia Carter
With a chuckle an old school friend of mine confessed that when he was a teenager he would try to destroy his best mate’s chances with the chicks by casually slipping this statement into conversation as…
Breastfeeding is one of those topics that all parents have a view on. Whether you love it or hate it, the NHS, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF all recommend breastfeeding to give babies the best…
UKIP has not had a good week when it comes to women. Nigel Farage kicked things off by suggesting that mothers should think twice about breastfeeding in public, managing to offend a rather large proportion…
Pills ok during pregnancy? We can’t know if we don’t study them.
Medications image via www.shutterstock.com
Imagine being pregnant while having a chronic health condition such as diabetes, hypertension, depression or asthma, or being diagnosed with an illness while pregnant. Amazingly, your doctor may not know…
Breastfeeding has again been frothing up debate after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced a clause to its Child Rights law that makes it mandatory to breastfeed children for the first two years of…
It’s rare for a significant period of time to pass before another debate about breastfeeding takes place in the media. The latest? Some of the highest authorities have said breastfeeding is okay, even…
Hands up who wants to breastfeed at work?
Christian Lutz/AP
Days after Pope Francis told mothers to “not think twice” about breastfeeding at church and in public, Sally Davies, the UK’s chief medical officer, called for women to be allowed to breastfeed at work…
Helping other preterm infants helps bereaved mothers come to terms with their own loss.
Sharon Drummond
The death of an infant is terrible for both parents, but for many mothers, physical reminders such as lactation, can seem incongruent when motherhood has been cut short. These women can find solace in…
The current 18-week paid parental leave (PPL) scheme is ill-suited to mothers who choose to exclusively breastfeed their…
‘Nipple Nazi’ is probably a cathartic shout-out on behalf of women who feel ripped off by a message that delivers pressure without assuring them the means of living up to expectations.
postbear eater of worlds/Flickr
Intrigued by recent research that shows longer-term breastfeeding may be linked to higher IQs, I shared an article about it on my Facebook page. I was promptly accused of “breast-is-best” fascism. It appears…
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Health Economics, Wellbeing and Society, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University