Breast milk & babies’ saliva shape oral microbiome
A study led by Dr Emma Sweeney and Adjunct Associate Professor Christine Knox, from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, with colleagues at the University of Queensland, showed that the growth of some microbes was inhibited for up to 24 hours following breastmilk and saliva mixing. Dr Sweeney said the team’s earlier studies … Continued
Would you feed your child with another woman’s breast milk?
While wet nursing is not a new phenomenon among Kenyan societies, the concept of pooling milk together in a bank is. Women from religious history would breastfeed the children of other women but this would be directly from the breast. Moses of the Bible times and Prophet Mohammed of the Quran both had wet nurses. … Continued
Looming famine threatens the lives of 2 million pregnant women and new mothers in Yemen
SANA’A, Yemen – Four years into conflict, Yemen has become home to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Over 22 million people are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. Two thirds of the population do not know when their next meal will come. “Some days I cannot provide food [for my children],” said 28-year-old … Continued
Donated Human Milk: A Lifesaving Option for Vulnerable Infants
Kenya loses an estimated 39 infants for every 1000 live births, translating to over 50,000 babies who die before their first birthday each year. More than half of these deaths occur in the neonatal period – the first month of life – most often due to complications related to prematurity and low birth weight[1]. Essential … Continued
Born Too Soon in a Country at War. Their Only Hope? This Clinic.
This baby girl has stopped breathing. She was born prematurely and is only 3 weeks old. Her mother, Restina Boniface, took her to the only public neonatal clinic in South Sudan. The country is one of the toughest places in the world for newborns with health problems to survive. Ten feet away sits a donated … Continued
6 In 10 Indian Babies Miss Out On Early Breastfeeding And Its Life-Saving Benefits
New Delhi: While there has been an improvement in the number of babies getting breastfed in the first hour of life in India–reflected in a rise from 23.1% in 2005 to 41.5% in 2015–the majority of Indian babies still miss out and could face life-threatening consequences, a new global report said. Early initiation of breastfeeding … Continued
Breast-Feeding May Lower Risk of Endometriosis
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Breast-feeding is linked to a reduced risk for endometriosis, a new study reports. Endometriosis — the growth of uterine tissue outside the uterus — can cause severe pain and excessive bleeding during menstruation, among other problems. It is a chronic disorder with an unknown cause. Researchers studied 72,394 women who had had one … Continued
Melinda Gates On Breastfeeding: It’s Natural, But It Sure Ain’t Easy
By MELINDA GATES We’ve all heard the statistics: Breastfeeding is the absolute gold standard in infant nutrition. Studies suggest it prevents everything from diarrhea to pneumonia to diabetes to obesity. A World Bank vice president once said that if breastfeeding were a new technology, its inventor would deserve a joint Nobel Prize in medicine and economics. For all … Continued
How formula milk shaped the modern workplace
It sounded like cannon fire – pirates, probably. The British East India Company’s ship Benares was docked at Makassar, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Its commander gave the order to set sail and hunt them down. Three days later, the crew still hadn’t found any pirates. What they had actually heard was the eruption … Continued
Breastfeeding may protect against chronic pain after Caesarean section
Breastfeeding after a caesarean section (C-section) may help manage pain, with mothers who breastfed their babies for at least 2 months after the operation three times less likely to experience persistent pain compared to those who breastfed for less than 2 months, according to new research being presented at this year’s Euroanaesthesia Congress in Geneva … Continued