Breastfeeding in the News Archive

Dec. 20, 2012 – ScienceDaily reports on an on-going Danish study following the growth of children.  Researchers are finding that breastfed children follow a different growth pattern than non-breastfed children.  They attribute the difference to breastfeeding lowering the levels of the growth hormones IGF-1 and insulin in the blood, leading to slightly slower growth.  This study is part of the SKOT project to increase knowledge of what Danish children eat from birth to their transition to solids.  The researchers found that the more the children breastfeed, the lower the hormone levels of the growth hormones.

Oct. 24, 2011 – Yahoo! News Canada reports that the Calgary Mothers’ Milk Bank is scheduled to open in January 2012.  According to the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, the only other registered facility in Canada is at Vancouver Women’s Hospital.

Oct. 20, 2011 – Medical News Today reports that a study published in the November issue of Pain found that breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigates pain in preterm infants with mature breastfeeding behaviors.

Oct. 18, 2011 – MedicineNet.com reports that the American Academy of Pediatrics is updating their SIDS guidelines to include three new recommendations:  breastfeeding is associated with a reduced SIDS risk and is recommended, immunization reduces SIDS risk by 50% and is recommended, and bumper pads should not be used in cribs because they can cause suffocation, strangulation, and entrapment.

August 17, 2011 – ThirdAge.com reports on a new study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention which found that African American women who nurse their babies reduce their chances of developing a type of breast cancer that disproportionately affects them, tends to be more aggressive, and is difficult to treat. Epidemiologists from Boston University, Georgetown University, and Roswell Park Cancer Institute followed 47,000 African American women from 1996 through 2009.  This study found that African American women who gave birth to more children were more likely than their peers who had not given birth or who had only given birth to one child to develop estrogen or progesterone receptor-negative cancer.  If the woman with two or more births breastfed her babies, her risk declined significantly.

June 21, 2011 – BBC News reports that new figures from the NHS Information Centre show that eight out of 10 newborns in the UK are now breastfed, up from six out of 10 in 1990.  A further breakdown shows that rates are higher in England than in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

June 21, 2011 – NewKerala.com reports that a flashmob of hundreds of mothers descended on The Grand Staircase of the Trafford Centre in Manchester to feed their babies to promote the start of National Breastfeeding Week.  One shopper said, “It’s not every day you see that many breasts while out doing your shopping. I suppose it’s a good way of getting people to listen to the message. I fully support them.”