Clinical Questions

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Why do women ingest their placenta and how does this effect breastfeeding? A recent review of placentophagy (consumption of the placenta after birth) has shed some light on the history of this behavior, motivation for it, and evidence. According to the authors, although there is no contemporary human culture […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM What are current recommendations for feeding the premature NICU graduate? The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine recently updated their Clinical Protocol #12: Transitioning the Breastfeeding Preterm Infant from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to Home, Revised 2018 For many premature infants in the USA, post-discharge care is done by physicians […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM When is the optimal time for a mother to follow up with her maternity care provider postpartum? The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recently published ACOG Committee Opinion Number 736 in May 2018 entitled Optimizing Postpartum Care Women who give birth often seek care from their maternity providers […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM What are current recommendations for drinking alcohol while breastfeeding? The Center for Disease Control recently published an educational page on its website regarding alcohol consumption while breastfeeding. A standard drink of alcohol is considered to be 12 oz of 5% beer, 8 oz of 7% malt liquor, 5 oz […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Does breastfeeding reduce the risk of hospitalization for infection among children less than 5 years of age? Studies from high income countries have demonstrated that 25% of hospitalizations for children under age 5 are due to infection. A group of Australian researchers evaluated a population of 488,603 children, and […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM What are the barriers to breastfeeding among women who are incarcerated during pregnancy and childbirth? According to a recent article on breastfeeding during incarceration, approximately 3-4% of women who enter the prison system in the USA are pregnant. Since prison sentences are often a year or longer, most pregnant […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM How do the breastfeeding rates in the United States compare with other countries? UNICEF recently published its document entitled ‘Breastfeeding: A Mother’s Gift, for Every Child’. According to UNICEF, increasing breastfeeding rates could save 850,000 children under age 5 each year, most of whom are under 6 months of […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Are women more likely to be successful breastfeeding if they receive care from one type of birth attendant vs another? There has been a rise in the % of pregnant women whose pregnancies and births are managed by midwives versus obstetricians or family physicians. Studies of breastfeeding knowledge among […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Does exposure to peanut protein in breastmilk reduce the risk of childhood peanut allergy? We know that when a mother eats peanuts, the peanut protein is present in her breastmilk. Waiting to introduce peanut, egg, and fish until one year of age was a previous recommendation by national pediatric […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM What are the 2018 revisions to the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative? The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative was established by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1991, after recognizing that breastfeeding support immediately after birth is crucial to breastfeeding success and to lowering […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Do premature infants who receive breastmilk have better cardiac outcomes as adults as compared to premature infants who receive formula? According to a recent review of research by Dr. Adam Lewandowski on prematurity’s effects on adult heart function, at least 10% of infant births globally are premature. Studies indicate […]

by Allison Laverty Montag IBCLC and Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Does racism affect breastfeeding initiation and duration rates among black women? Black women in the USA continue to have lower breastfeeding rates as compared to white women. Based on breastfeeding stats from 34 states for 2010-2013, the breastfeeding rates for initiation, exclusive breastfeeding at […]

by Allison Montag IBCLC and Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Does rooming-in with family reduce the use of medications, length of stay, and costs in the inpatient treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)? Infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) suffer from discontinuation of opiate exposure in-utero. Their symptoms include jitteriness, poor feeding, fussiness, sweating, diarrhea, […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Why do certain supplements help increase the milk supply for some mothers, but not others? The science of obesity and lactation is still in its infancy, yet we observe that women who are overweight have an increased risk of a delay in lactation and low milk supply, particularly if […]

by Allison Laverty Montag IBCLC Can breastfeeding practices reduce the risk of maltreatment in childhood? Childhood maltreatment includes neglect, the failure to provide the basic needs and supervision a child needs, or injuring a child emotionally, physically or sexually. In 2014, there were 700,000 substantiated cases of maltreatment in the U.S. and 1,580 deaths as […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM What interventions are proven to be helpful for breastfed infants with colic? Colic is typically defined by the Wessel rule of ‘3’s, occurring in infants who are growing well, healthy, but have episodes of irritability and who cry inconsolably for at least 3 hours a day, at least 3 […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM Is prenatal breastfeeding education more effective when delivered during group prenatal care vs individual prenatal care? According to a new American College of OB/Gyn Opinion on Group Prenatal Care, the goals of prenatal care are to prevent poor perinatal outcomes and to provide education and support during pregnancy, labor, […]

by Alison Laverty Montag IBCLC Do demographic disparities exist in the use of mother’s own milk and banked donor milk in NICUs? Preterm infants who consume breastmilk have lower rates of sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis. When mother’s own milk is not available, banked donor milk is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Black mothers […]

by Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM How can a breastfeeding mother with influenza protect her infant from the flu? It is widely known that we are having an aggressive worldwide influenza outbreak this year, with many deaths among young and old internationally. Our last very serious influenza season was during the H1N1 outbreak, also known […]