A Guide to Supporting Breastfeeding for the Medical Profession

Book excerpt: 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.