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
Lactation Duration and Long-term Risk for Incident Type 2 Diabetes in Women With a History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Participants in the longitudinal Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II) who had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), provided blood samples and information on their diabetes status for the Diabetes and Womens’ Health Study. Data on lactation duration was extracted from the NHS II records. This study collected data from women a median of 32 years after their diagnosis with GDM, at a median age of 50 years.
Partner behaviours improving breastfeeding outcomes: An integrative review
This integrative review used a Population-Interest-Context framework-based search strategy to synthesise current knowledge about what specific behaviours of a breastfeeding woman’s partner increase breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity and duration rates in Western-culture settings.
A systematic review examining the association between female body image and the intention, initiation and duration of post-partum infant feeding methods (breastfeeding vs bottle-feeding)
This is a systematic review of the literature examining the association between female body image and infant feeding methods. The authors examined the female body image in relation to intention, initiation and duration of postpartum infant feeding methods.
Maternal Leukocytes and Infant Immune Programming during Breastfeeding
This review addresses the evidence for functionality of maternal, breastmilk-derived immune cells in the infant. The available evidence is mostly from studies in mice, for ethical and practical reasons.
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.
