Breast feeding and childhood asthma

Source: Thorax

Thorax, July 2009, 64 (7), pp. 558-559

Follow this link for full text.

Date of publication: July 2009

Publication type: Editorial

In a nutshell: The text examines various studies on the effect of breastfeeding on asthma rates, including the one above.  It concludes that the study makes an important contribution to the on-going debate.  However, due to contrary results from various studies, a definitive answer remains elusive.

Length of publication: 2 pages

Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

 

Breastfeeding advocacy: Who is responsible? an Australian perspective

Source: Women and Birth

For fulltext link here

For Abstract link here

Year of publication: 2008

Publication type: Editorial

In a nutshell:

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that nearly 90% of Australian mothers initiate breastfeeding at birth or soon after.¹ However, within weeks or months the majority of these mothers stop breastfeeding. At 6 months of age less than half of all babies born in Australia are receiving any breast milk at all. Given the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and continued breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond, the duration of breastfeeding in Australia is a major health issue. With such dramatic declines in breastfeeding duration in Australia it is fair to ask ‘are midwives doing enough to promote breastfeeding as the normal way to feed babies beyond the post partum period’? And furthermore ‘whose responsibility is it to advocate for breastfeeding in accordance with the WHO recommendations’?

Length of publication: 1 page

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