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BMC Series Focus Issue: Breastfeeding

In celebration of World Breastfeeding Week in the first week of August, the BMC Series presents a focus issue on Breastfeeding, highlighting research from across the journals on infant and child health, breastfeeding behaviors and care for lactating women, the biology of breastfeeding, and more.


New Content ItemBy sharing this research, we wish to support the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and highlight content that could make a difference to solving global problems.

Breastfeeding behaviors and care for lactating women

The prevalence, perceptions and behaviors associated with traditional/complementary medicine use by breastfeeding women living in Macau: a cross-sectional survey study
Tingyun Zheng, Weijie Chen, Hao Hu, Yitao Wang, Joanna E. Harnett & Carolina Oi Lam Ung 
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 20: 122 (2020)

Clinical practice guideline on pregnancy and renal disease
Kate Wiles, Lucy Chappell, Katherine Clark, Louise Elman, Matt Hall, Liz Lightstone, Germin Mohamed, Durba Mukherjee, Catherine Nelson-Piercy, Philip Webster, Rebecca Whybrow & Kate Bramham 
BMC Nephrology 20: 401 (2019)

Culture and community perceptions on diet for maternal and child health: a qualitative study in rural northern Ghana
Maxwell A. Dalaba, Engelbert A. Nonterah, Samuel T. Chatio, James K. Adoctor, Daniella Watson, Mary Barker, Kate A. Ward & Cornelius Debpuur 
BMC Nutrition volume 7: 36 (2021)

Lactation challenges of resident physicians- results of a national survey
Gabrielle W. Peters, Aleksandra Kuczmarska-Haas, Emma B. Holliday & Lindsay Puckett 
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 20: 762 (2020)

Cost-effectiveness evidence for strategies to promote or support breastfeeding: a systematic search and narrative literature review
Elizabeth M. Camacho & Hannah Hussain 
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 20: 757 (2020)

The effectiveness of the laid-back position on lactation-related nipple problems and comfort: a meta-analysis
Zhi Wang, Qiuyue Liu, Lihua Min & Xiaorong Mao 
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 21: 248 (2021)

Progress towards reducing sociodemographic disparities in breastfeeding outcomes in Indonesia: a trend analysis from 2002 to 2017
Nurmala Selly Saputri, Belinda Rina Marie Spagnoletti, Alison Morgan, Siswanto Agus Wilopo, Ankur Singh, Barbara McPake, Rifat Atun, Rika Kumala Dewi & John Tayu Lee 
BMC Public Health 20: 1112 (2020)

A realist review of infant feeding counselling to increase exclusive breastfeeding by HIV-positive women in sub Saharan-Africa: what works for whom and in what contexts
Simangaliso Nyoni, Linda Sweet, Jacinta Clark & Paul Ward 
BMC Public Health 19: 570 (2019)

The effect of prenatal counseling on breastfeeding self-efficacy and frequency of breastfeeding problems in mothers with previous unsuccessful breastfeeding: a randomized controlled clinical trial
Fahimeh Sehhatie Shafaei, Mojgan Mirghafourvand & Shiva Havizari 
BMC Women's Health volume 20: 94 (2020)

Prevalence and determinants of modern contraceptive utilization among rural lactating mothers: findings from the primary health care project in two northwest Ethiopian districts
Terefe Derso, Gashaw Andargie Biks, Mezgebu Yitayal, Tadesse Awoke Ayele, Kassahun Alemu, Getu Debalkie Demissie, Haileab Fekadu Wolde, Endalkachew Dellie, Telake Azale, Bisrat Misganaw, Adane Kebede, Destaw Fetene, Tsegaye Gebremdhin & Asmamaw Atnafu 
BMC Women's Health 20: 67 (2020)

Infant and child health

The infant gut resistome is associated with E. coli and early-life exposures
Rebecca M. Lebeaux, Modupe O. Coker, Erika F. Dade, Thomas J. Palys, Hilary G. Morrison, Benjamin D. Ross, Emily R. Baker, Margaret R. Karagas, Juliette C. Madan & Anne G. Hoen 
BMC Microbiology 21: 201 (2021)

Adaptive capacity of 2- to 5-month-old infants to the flow, shape, and flexibility of different teats during bottle feeding: a cross-sectional study
M. L. J. Lagarde, N. van Alfen, S. A. F. de Groot, A. C. H. Geurts & L. van den Engel-Hoek 
BMC Pediatrics 19: 477 (2019)

Breastfeeding reduces ultra-processed foods and sweetened beverages consumption among children under two years old
Ana Maria Spaniol, Teresa Helena Macedo da Costa, Gisele Ane Bortolini & Muriel Bauermann Gubert 
BMC Public Health 20: 330 (2020)

Drinking or smoking while breastfeeding and later developmental health outcomes in children
Louisa Gibson & Melanie Porter 
BMC Research Notes 13: 232 (2020)

Biology of breastfeeding

Transcriptome analysis of the hormone-sensing cells in mammary epithelial reveals dynamic changes in early pregnancy
Duvini De Silva, Kamini Kunasegaran, Sujoy Ghosh & Alexandra M Pietersen 
BMC Developmental Biology 15: 7 (2015)

Human milk fungi: environmental determinants and inter-kingdom associations with milk bacteria in the CHILD Cohort Study
Shirin Moossavi, Kelsey Fehr, Hooman Derakhshani, Hind Sbihi, Bianca Robertson, Lars Bode, Jeffrey Brook, Stuart E. Turvey, Theo J. Moraes, Allan B. Becker, Piushkumar J. Mandhane, Malcolm R. Sears, Ehsan Khafipour, Padmaja Subbarao & Meghan B. Azad 
BMC Microbiology 20: 146 (2020)

Timing of complementary feeding is associated with gut microbiota diversity and composition and short chain fatty acid concentrations over the first year of life
Moira K. Differding, Sara E. Benjamin-Neelon, Cathrine Hoyo, Truls Østbye & Noel T. Mueller 
BMC Microbiology 20r: 56 (2020)