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Economic aspects of breastfeeding

Edited by Lisa Amir and Julie Smith

This series provides economic data to inform policy makers about how breastfeeding leads to savings in health costs and other costs, raises awareness among the academic and wider community and highlights a new and publicly relevant area of research.

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

View all collections published in International Breastfeeding Journal.

  1. Interventions aimed at promoting breastfeeding rates are among the most effective possible health policies available, with an estimated return of US$35 per dollar invested. Indeed, some authors found that a 10...

    Authors: Juan Antonio Quesada, Ildefonso Méndez and Rocío Martín-Gil
    Citation: International Breastfeeding Journal 2020 15:34
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. The economic value of breastfeeding to the society at large is under researched and its importance as a preventive public health strategy is underestimated. What little research there is indicates that conside...

    Authors: Elien Rouw, Elizabeth Hormann and Veronika Scherbaum
    Citation: International Breastfeeding Journal 2015 9:22
    Content type: Review Published on:

  3. A number of significant recent research studies have used techniques of economic modelling to demonstrate the potential benefits of increasing breastfeeding rates in the UK overall, and specifically in neonata...

    Authors: Karin Lowson, Clare Offer, Julie Watson, Bill McGuire and Mary J Renfrew
    Citation: International Breastfeeding Journal 2015 10:11
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. Despite scientific evidence substantiating the importance of breastfeeding in child survival and development and its economic benefits, assessments show gaps in many countries’ implementation of the 2003 WHO a...

    Authors: Radha Holla-Bhar, Alessandro Iellamo, Arun Gupta, Julie P Smith and Jai Prakash Dadhich
    Citation: International Breastfeeding Journal 2015 10:8
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Despite a gradual increase in breastfeeding rates, overall in the UK there are wide variations, with a trend towards breastfeeding rates at 6–8 weeks remaining below 40% in less affluent areas. While financial...

    Authors: Barbara Whelan, Kate J Thomas, Patrice Van Cleemput, Heather Whitford, Mark Strong, Mary J Renfrew, Elaine Scott and Clare Relton
    Citation: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2014 14:355
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  9. Each year almost 3 million newborns die within the first 28 days of life, 2.6 million babies are stillborn, and 287,000 women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth worldwide. Effective and cost-ef...

    Authors: Lindsay Mangham-Jefferies, Catherine Pitt, Simon Cousens, Anne Mills and Joanna Schellenberg
    Citation: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2014 14:243
    Content type: Research article Published on:

    The Erratum to this article has been published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2015 15:64

  10. Breast milk is the normal way to feed infants and is accepted worldwide as the optimal first source of nutrition. Though the majority intend to breastfeed, many mothers of sick, hospitalized newborns, particul...

    Authors: Julia Panczuk, Sharon Unger, Deborah O’Connor and Shoo K Lee
    Citation: International Breastfeeding Journal 2014 9:4
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  11. Incentive or reward schemes are becoming increasingly popular to motivate healthy lifestyle behaviours. In this paper, insights from a qualitative and descriptive study to investigate the uptake, impact and me...

    Authors: Gill Thomson, Fiona Dykes, Margaret A Hurley and Pat Hoddinott
    Citation: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2012 12:22
    Content type: Research article Published on: