Summaries of Significant New Research
The Latest Research section includes summaries written by the Breastfeeding Information and Research team of recent significant research. The summaries will help you get a clear snapshot of the study’s results and conclusions.
Authors:
Alison Stacey MBBS FRACGP IBCLC, Liz McGuire BSc IBCLC, Bernadette Gifford BAppSci(ClinSci) BOsteoSci
How does women’s bone health recover after lactation? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
This study is a systematic review of the literature addressing women’s bone health during and after lactation. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the rate of bone-mass recovery after lactation related loss. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed of the literature including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus databases using relevant key words. It included women of reproductive age, who had 2 assessments of bone density in the postpartum period. The review found 9455 papers, 8812 not included, 189 excluded due to duplication, 454 used for full manuscript analysis. Of these, 32 were used for the systematic review and 7 of those for meta-analysis. The follow-up period in this review ranged between one and 3.6 years postpartum.
Maternal mood symptoms in pregnancy and postpartum depression: association with exclusive breastfeeding in a population-based birth cohort.
The importance of breastfeeding is well established. A lack of exclusive breastfeeding increases the risk of infectious diseases, diarrhoea, respiratory illness, food allergies and gastrointestinal disorders. Regarding maternal health, a lack of breastfeeding increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Improved brain growth and microstructural development in breast milk-fed very low birth weight premature infants.
This study compared quantitative MRI findings between 44 predominantly human milk-fed and 24 predominantly formula-fed preterm infants. All infants were born at <32 weeks gestational age and <1500 g. They were classified as formula-fed or breastmilk-fed according to what composed the majority of their nutrition according to NICU records. Pasteurised donor milk was available to complement maternal milk if parents consented, until 34 weeks. At approximately term equivalent age, quantitative MRI was used to measure total and regional brain volume and to investigate white matter microstructure.
Is the Occurrence of Ankyloglossia in Newborns Associated with Breastfeeding Difficulties?
This Brazilian study compared 2 tongue-tie assessment tools and looked for an association between a diagnosis of tongue-tie and breastfeeding difficulties or cessation of exclusive breastfeeding. The 2 tools were the Bristol Tongue Assessment Tool (BTAT) and the Assessment Tool for Lingual Frenulum Function (Neonatal Tongue Screening Test ─ NTST).
Breastfeeding in the Community-How Can Partners/Fathers Help? A Systematic Review.
Previous research has shown that family members can influence infant feeding decisions. A supportive partner can improve breastfeeding outcomes. The authors of this paper performed a systematic literature review to determine which particular methods of support have been found effective.
Human Breast Milk: Bioactive Components, from Stem Cells to Health Outcomes.
This review provides a brief overview of current knowledge of growth factors (GF) and stem cells (SC) in breastmilk. While recent discoveries are exciting and suggest great potential for using breastmilk research to increase our understanding of infant development and even to provide potential therapies, at this stage much is speculative.
