OBJECTIVE Although bottle feeding is the main infant feeding mode in most societies, human milk is considered the most appropriate food for human infants. The aim of this study is to gather statistics regarding breast feeding prevalence, influencing factors for engaging in, and demographic characteristics of breast feeding in general population. METHODS This is a random cross-sectional questi...

While the global objective is exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for a full 6 months duration, the standard indicator is a "prevalence" indicator, that is, the percentage of all children under age 6 months who are exclusively breastfed at a point in time. That yields a higher percentage than a more direct indicator of duration and can be easily misunderstood, exaggerating the amount of EBF. A measur...

Accurate interpretation of reported breastfeeding rates is essential in understanding the true picture of a country's breastfeeding status. In Sri Lanka, where the reported exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rate among infants aged from 0 to 5 months is 75%, accurate understanding of this rate is of the utmost importance. The danger of misinterpreting the data and assuming that Sri Lanka has achieve...

BACKGROUND Breast feeding has several benefits for both the infants and mothers. However, despite strong evidences in support of breast feeding its prevalence has remained low worldwide. The objective of the present study was to examine the knowledge and attitude towards breast feeding and infant feeding practices among Indian postnatal mothers. METHODOLOGY A cross sectional descriptive study...

BACKGROUND The rate of breast-feeding in Israel has increased over the last two decades but is still lower than rates in other developed countries that have taken an active role in promoting breast-feeding. OBJECTIVE To determine breast-feeding patterns and the association between sociodemographic characteristics and breast-feeding in the Tel Aviv district. METHODS The mothers of infants ag...

The additional risk of an infant acquiring human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) from its HIV+ mother during breast-feeding is about 15% after 24 months and depends on the duration of breast-feeding. This statistic has been exploited to inflate the disadvantages of breast-feeding. It may be more pertinent for health workers to quote a risk of about 5% if breast-feeding is practiced for 6 mo...

Prompted by declines in average durations and proportions of women breast feeding in several developing countries, international organizations have placed breast feeding promotion high on their health policy agendas. Breast feeding can prolong the length of the birth interval directly through its ability to cause lactational amenorrhea and anovulation. Maintenance of lactational amenorrhea de...

  Bilateral diffuse intense breast uptake was noted in a 40 year old female who was evaluated with Tc-99m sestamibi (MIBI) myocardial perfusion scan for possible ischemia. She was breast feeding her 1.5 year old child. The intense uptake in the breasts was superimposed on the apical and anteroapical regions of the myocardium and caused interpretation problem. We recom...

OBJECTIVE to develop a breast feeding assessment tool to facilitate improved targeting of optimum positioning and attachment advice and to describe the changes seen following the release of a tongue-tie. DESIGN development and validation of the Bristol Breastfeeding Assessment Tool (BBAT) and correlation with breast feeding self-efficacy. SETTING maternity hospital in South West England. ...

AIMS To document infant feeding methods in the first six months of life in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, 2003-2004. Some problems with breast-feeding in the area are explained. METHODS A longitudinal study of infant feeding practices was undertaken. A total of 1219 mothers who delivered babies during 2003 and 2004 were interviewed in five hospitals or institute...