Does breastfeeding alter early brain development? The prevailing consensus from large epidemiological studies posits that early exclusive breastfeeding is associated with improved measures of IQ and cognitive functioning in later childhood and adolescence. Prior morphometric brain imaging studies support these findings, revealing increased white matter and sub-cortical gray matter volume, and p...

OBJECTIVE To assess the relationships between maternal breast-feeding intention, attitudes, self-efficacy and knowledge at 7 months' gestation with exclusive or full breast-feeding at 3 months postpartum. DESIGN Prospective cohort study with structured home interviews during pregnancy and 3 months after delivery. SETTING Two rural sub-districts of Kishoreganj district, Bangladesh. SUBJECT...

Exclusive breastfeeding of newborns, a practice recommended by WHO, is hindered in many countries by practices such as prelacteal feeding (feeding other foods before breast milk is fed to infants). This paper describes maternal and infant characteristics and trends over time associated with early neonatal feeding (ENF) in Bangladesh. The analysis used data from 24,992 participants in a randomiz...

We followed 183 infants for two years, 31 of whom were breast fed less than three and a half months (median 70 days; short breast feeding group) and a further 31 of whom were exclusively breast fed for more than nine months (long breast feeding group). We assessed heredity for atopy, number of infections, and duration of breast feeding as determinants of atopy. During the first year of life 14 ...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the effects of breast feeding on autonomic nervous system (ANS) response to stressors. METHODS Sympathetic and parasympathetic activities were examined before, during, and after standard laboratory stressors in women who were either exclusively breast feeding (n=14) or nonexclusively breast feeding (n=14), and in non-postpartum controls (n=15). ...

objectives: although breast milk is considered the best nutritional option for neonates, use of traditional supplements such as sugar water, camel thorn, and flix weed in the first week of life of infants is quite common in iran and many other countries. the aim of this study was to evaluate whether consuming such supplements has any impact on infant’s breastfeeding behavior. materials and meth...

BACKGROUND Studies on the health benefits of breastfeeding in developed countries have shown conflicting results. These studies often fail to account for confounding, reverse causality, and dose-response effects. We addressed these issues in analyzing longitudinal data to determine if breastfeeding protects US infants from developing diarrhea and ear infections. METHODS Mothers participating ...