ABSTRACT

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.

chapter 1|5 pages

The role of primary care and the GP in supporting breastfeeding

ByMarie-Therese Lovis

chapter 2|12 pages

Why breastfeeding matters

ByNatalie Shenker

chapter 3|8 pages

Why are breastfeeding rates in the UK so low?

ByAmy Brown

chapter 4|5 pages

Contraindications to breastfeeding

ByWendy Jones

chapter 6|6 pages

Birth experience and breastfeeding

ByAmy Brown, Jenny Clarke

chapter 7|12 pages

Breastfeeding complications

ByEmma Pickett, Wendy Jones

chapter 8|10 pages

Pharmacokinetics of drug transfer into breastmilk

ByWendy Jones

chapter 9|24 pages

Compatibility of commonly used drugs in lactation

ByWendy Jones

chapter 10|10 pages

Supporting breastfeeding women with mental health issues

ByBethany Chapman

chapter 11|8 pages

Tongue tie

BySarah Oakley

chapter 12|11 pages

Colic and reflux in the breastfed baby

ByShel Banks

chapter 13|11 pages

Why provide donor human milk?

ByNatalie Shenker

chapter 14|8 pages

Breastfeeding a baby with health complications

BySandeep Kaur Jawanda, Helen Calvert, Pippa Hodge

chapter 15|10 pages

Breastfeeding sick babies

ByVicky Thomas

chapter 16|3 pages

Infant feeding in emergencies – what doctors need to know

ByHelen Gray

chapter 17|8 pages

What GPs need to know about breastmilk substitutes

ByHelen Crawley

chapter 18|3 pages

Stopping breastfeeding

ByEmma Pickett

chapter 19|2 pages

Where to find out more

ByAmy Brown, Wendy Jones