World Breastfeeding Week 2023

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.

Breastfeeding is recognized as an important public health issue with enormous social and economic implications. Infants who do not receive breast milk are likely to experience poorer health outcomes than breastfed infants; mothers who do not breastfeed increase their own health risks.

We are taking the opportunity to support World Breastfeeding Week 2023 by sharing a selection of articles, blogs, and other related breastfeeding research.

This work supports and amplifies research from the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG3 (Good Health & Wellbeing) and SDG5 (Gender Equality).

Featured Journals

International Breastfeeding Journal provides an international platform for promoting academic discussions on all aspects of breastfeeding. Our esteemed Editorial Board welcomes high quality submissions on all areas of breastfeeding, including articles on the social and cultural context within which breastfeeding occurs.

The role of doulas in providing breastfeeding support during the COVID-19 pandemic
_{Monica Ochapa, Kesha Baptiste-Roberts, Sharon E. Barrett, Adeola Animasahun & Yvonne Bronner}
_{Research | Published: 21 April 2023}

The infant feeding methods promoted by South African Instagram influencers in relation to crying and sleeping, 2018–2020: a retrospective digital ethnography
_{Sukoluhle Pilime & Sara Jewett}
_{Research | Published: 16 March 2023}

Emotional and informational social support from health visitors and breastfeeding outcomes in the UK
_{A Chambers, EH Emmott, S Myers & AE Page}
_{Research | Published: 07 March 2023}

Maternity protection entitlements for non-standard workers in low-and-middle-income countries and potential implications for breastfeeding practices: a scoping review of research since 2000
_{Catherine Pereira-Kotze, Alison Feeley, Tanya Doherty & Mieke Faber}
_{Research | Published: 30 January 2023}

The association between early introduction of tiny tastings of solid foods and duration of breastfeeding
_{Jenny Stern, Eva-Lotta Funkquist & Maria Grandahl}
_{Research | Published: 16 January 2023}

Women’s experiences with using domperidone as a galactagogue to increase breast milk supply: an Australian cross-sectional survey
_{Grace M. McBride, Robyn Stevenson, Gabbie Zizzo, Alice R. Rumbold, Lisa H. Amir, Amy Keir & Luke E. Grzeskowiak}
_{Research | Published: 07 February 2023}

New Content Item Part of the BMC Series journals, BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, including the biomedical and sociological aspects of breastfeeding.

Follow @BMC_Series to stay updated.

Rates of and factors associated with exclusive and any breastfeeding at six months in Canada: an analysis of population-based cross-sectional data
_{Christina Ricci, Victoria Otterman, Terri-Lyn Bennett, Stephanie Metcalfe, Elizabeth Darling, Sonia Semenic & Susie Dzakpasu [for the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System]}
_{Research | Published: 23 January 2023}

Does benefits-of-breastfeeding language or risks-of-formula-feeding language promote more-positive attitudes toward breastfeeding among midwives and nurses?
_{Ayumi Toda, Keiko Nanishi & Akira Shibanuma}
_{Research | Published: 11 March 2023}

Breastfeeding difficulties in the first 6 weeks postpartum among mothers with chronic conditions: a latent class analysis
_{Natalie V. Scime, Amy Metcalfe, Alberto Nettel-Aguirre, Kara Nerenberg, Cynthia H. Seow, Suzanne C. Tough & Kathleen H. Chaput}
_{Research | Published: 02 February 2023}

The relationship between women’s breastfeeding empowerment and conformity to feminine norms
_{Maryam Dehghani, Ashraf Kazemi, Zeinab Heidari & Fatemeh Mohammadi}
_{Research | Published: 25 April 2023}

Effects of breastfeeding training programmes for midwives on breastfeeding outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
_{Tianci Wang, Meimei Shang & Ka Ming Chow}
_{Research | Published: 18 April 2023}

New Content Item Part of the BMC Series journals, BMC Public Health is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that has a special focus on the social determinants of health, the environmental, behavioral, and occupational correlates of health and disease, and the impact of health policies, practices and interventions on the community.

Follow @BMC_Series to stay updated.

Exploring the relationship between breastfeeding and the incidence of infant illnesses in Ireland: evidence from a nationally representative prospective cohort study
_{Sarah Murphy, Laura Carter, Tasneem Al Shizawi, Michelle Queally, Sarah Brennan & Stephen O’Neill}
_{Research | Published: 20 January 2023}

Race/ethnicity-specific associations between breastfeeding information source and breastfeeding rates among U.S. women
_{Stephanie M. Quintero, Paula D. Strassle, Amalia Londoño Tobón, Stephanie Ponce, Alia Alhomsi, Ana I. Maldonado, Jamie S. Ko, Miciah J. Wilkerson & Anna María Nápoles}
_{Research | Published: 17 March 2023}

Community-based approaches to infant safe sleep and breastfeeding promotion: a qualitative study
_{Meera Menon, Rebecca Huber, Dana D. West, Stacy Scott, Rebecca B. Russell & Scott D. Berns}
_{Research | Published: 07 March 2023}

Effectiveness of a community-based support programme to reduce social inequality in exclusive breastfeeding: study protocol for a cluster-randomised trial
_{Henriette Knold Rossau, Ingrid Maria Susanne Nilsson, Marianne Busck-Rasmussen, Claus Thorn Ekstrøm, Anne Kristine Gadeberg, Jonas Cuzulan Hirani, Katrine Strandberg-Larsen & Sarah Fredsted Villadsen}
_{Study Protocol | Published: 08 March 2023}

The Marri Gudjaga project: a study protocol for a randomised control trial using Aboriginal peer support workers to promote breastfeeding of Aboriginal babies
_{Rebecca Thorne, Rowena Ivers, Michelle Dickson, Karen Charlton, Lisa Jackson Pulver, Christine Catling, Michael Dibley, Simon Eckermann, Shahla Meedya, Miranda Buck, Patrick Kelly, Elizabeth Best, Melanie Briggs & Joan Taniane}
_{Study Protocol | Published: 04 May 2023}

Featured Articles

All BMC articles are published on the open access model. All articles are free to read, copy, distribute, and use (providing attribution is given).

New Content Item from Reproductive Health

Care at the first postnatal hour in two hospitals of the Adequate Birth Project: qualitative analysis of experiences in two stages of the Healthy Birth research

Breastfeeding in the first hour of life in Brazilian private hospitals participating in a quality-of-care improvement project

from Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition

Association between adherence to a low carbohydrate dietar y (LCD) pattern with breast milk characteristics and oxidative markers in infants’ urine: a cross-sectional study

Determinants of complementary feeding practices among children aged 6–24 months in urban slums of Pune, Maharashtra, in India

New Content Item from Journal of Cannabis Research

Patient caught breastfeeding and instructed to stop: an empirical ethics study on marijuana and lactation

New Content Item from Archives of Public Health

Prevalence and predictors of delayed initiation of breastfeeding among postnatal women at a tertiary hospital in Eastern Uganda: a cross-sectional study

from International Journal for Equity in Health

Interventions and policy approaches to promote equity in breastfeeding

For a complete list of relevant BMC articles, please see here.

Submit to our Collections

International Breastfeeding Journal - Breastfeeding and disability/chronic ill health

International Breastfeeding Journal is calling for papers that focus on breastfeeding for women with disabilities (including intellectual and physical disabilities) and those with chronic ill health. We are not considering papers where the focus is on a baby who has a disability. We welcome papers using any methodology appropriate to the focus of the study.

Submission deadline: 31 December 2023.

International Breastfeeding Journal - Breastfeeding and COVID-19

The Editor-in-Chief of International Breastfeeding Journal is selecting articles related to COVID-19 published in the journal to highlight in this collection. All articles have been subject to the journal’s normal peer review process and the collection is not sponsored.

This thematic series is ongoing.

BMC Public Health - Health benefits of breastfeeding

a baby breastfeeding from a woman in a white and yellow shirt In support of Sustainable Development Goal 3- Good Health and Well-Being, BMC Public Health has launched this collection calling for research on the health benefits of breastfeeding. We would particularly welcome submissions addressing: The role of breastfeeding in improving health outcomes for children and mothers; breastfeeding promotion interventions; women's perceptions and experiences of breastfeeding; the relationship between breastfeeding and the incidence of infant illnesses; factors Influencing the practice of exclusive breastfeeding; socio-economic and environmental factors affecting breastfeeding; barriers to exclusive breastfeeding

Submission Deadline: 7 May 2024.

Featured Books

Discover our collection of Springer Books on Breastfeeding.

New Content Item

Book: Twin and Higher-order Pregnancies

Chapter: Breastfeeding Twins and Multiples

This chapter explores the basic physiology of breastfeeding multiples and common problems involved, with a highlight on the importance of antenatal support and preparation.

Book: Natural Cycle and Minimal Stimulation IVF

Chapter: Asthma and Breastfeeding After IVF

IVF therapies are associated with an increased risk of malformations and premature births as well as childhood asthma. This chapter explores the use of breastfeeding as a potential preventative measure.

Book: COVID-19 and Perinatology

Chapter: Management of Neonatal Care During COVID19 Pandemics

WHO encouraged initiation and continuing of breastfeeding in mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. This chapter explores mothers with perinatal COVID-19 infection and neonatal outcomes.