A Guide to Supporting Breastfeeding for the Medical Profession

This book is a practical guide for medical practitioners as they navigate through breastfeeding problems that occur in day-to-day practice.

If mothers have a breastfeeding complication they are often directed to their GP. In complex situations, medical staff will be making decisions around what treatment plan to follow and whether a mother can keep breastfeeding. In recent years there has been growing evidence that medical professionals often advise mothers to stop breastfeeding while undergoing treatment, when in reality this was not a necessary step. In a time when breastfeeding rates are decreasing, it is important that medical professionals give accurate advice and support a mother’s choice to breastfeed if the situation allows it. A Guide to Supporting Breastfeeding for the Medical Profession includes contributions from a wide range of medical professionals and each chapter is written with the practitioner in mind. Contributors include GPs, paediatricians, neonatologists, lactation specialists and midwives.

Doctors have a vital role to play in supporting and facilitating breastfeeding, and without the appropriate knowledge they can often inadvertently sabotage it. This book will be of interest to GPs and paediatricians as well as nurse prescribers, midwives and health visitors.

Amy Brown is Professor of Child Public Health at Swansea University, where she has published over 100 research papers and books examining psychological, cultural and societal barriers to breastfeeding. Her research seeks to shift our perception of breastfeeding from an individual mothering issue to a wider public health challenge.

Wendy Jones is a pharmacist, with over 25 years of experience as a breastfeeding support worker for the Breastfeeding Network (BfN). She runs the BfN Drugs in Breastmilk Service and has presented widely to healthcare professionals, volunteers and mothers on this subject. She qualified as an independent pharmacist prescriber but is now retired.