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Children
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Promoting Breastfeeding and Human Milk in Infants
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Promoting Breastfeeding and Human Milk in Infants

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Neonatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 March 2025 | Viewed by 2263

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pasqua Anna Quitadamo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Neonatology–Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
Interests: neonatal nutrition; human milk bank; neonatal care; neonatology and neonatal resuscitation
Prof. Dr. Luigi Corvaglia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Interests: neonatal intensive care; neonatal gastroenterology; neonatal nutrition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Breast milk is considered by the scientific community and all institutions dealing with pediatric health as an important element of well-being in the short and long term for newborns. For premature babies, it is considered a life-saving drug, thanks to the protective effect against the main complications of prematurity and, when the mother's milk is not available, the second nutritional option is the donated milk from to milk banks. Extensive use of maternal milk results in healthier children and adults. For this reason, many states have adopted breastfeeding promotion measures that led to higher percentages over the years, but the objectives established worldwide have not yet been achieved. Worrying breastfeeding rates are recorded in low-income countries. Studies relating to human milk, both regarding its composition and the correlation between bioactive factors and the prevention of pathologies, as well as the use of donated milk, are welcome, but also studies analyzing the state of the art in breastfeeding and the factors that have been shown to be effective in promoting breastfeeding and the use of human milk.

We welcome you to submit your work to this Special Issue to help increase the general awareness regarding the promotion of breastfeeding and human milk in infants.

Dr. Pasqua Anna Quitadamo
Prof. Dr. Luigi Corvaglia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • breastfeeding
  • human milk
  • infant feeding
  • bioactive factors
  • human milk composition
  • breastfeeding promotion
  • human milk banking

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 666 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Breastfeeding Practices of Undernourished Mothers in Rural Sierra Leone on Infant Growth and Mortality
by Aminata Shamit Koroma, Kevin B. Stephenson, Per O. Iversen, Mark J. Manary and David Taylor Hendrixson
Children 2024, 11(2), 233; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/children11020233 - 10 Feb 2024
Viewed by 978
Abstract
Breastfeeding provides optimal infant nutrition; however, <50% of infants are exclusively breastfed (EBF) for 6 months. We aimed to describe breastfeeding practices and their effects on growth and mortality among a high-risk mother-infant cohort in rural Sierra Leone. This was a secondary analysis [...] Read more.
Breastfeeding provides optimal infant nutrition; however, <50% of infants are exclusively breastfed (EBF) for 6 months. We aimed to describe breastfeeding practices and their effects on growth and mortality among a high-risk mother-infant cohort in rural Sierra Leone. This was a secondary analysis of data from a randomized nutrition intervention trial among undernourished pregnant women. The study’s primary outcomes were infant weight and length gains at 6 weeks of age. We included 1270 singleton infants in the analysis, with 1092 (85.6%) having 24-week outcome data. At 6 weeks, 88% were EBF, but the rate of EBF decreased to 17% at 24 weeks. The EBF infants at 6 weeks had improved length (difference of 0.9 mm/week; 95% CI 0.4 to 1.3; p < 0.001) and weight (difference of 40 g/week; 95% CI 24 to 53; p < 0.001) gains compared to the non-EBF infants. At 12 weeks, the EBF infants had improved weight (difference of 12 g/week; 95% CI 2 to 22; p = 0.024) gain. The EBF infants had lower mortality than the infants who were not EBF (hazard ratio of 0.39; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.84; p = 0.017). In summary, the infants who were EBF had greater weight and length gain and reduced mortality than those who were not EBF. Efforts to improve breastfeeding should thus be prioritized to improve infant health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Breastfeeding and Human Milk in Infants)
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16 pages, 2664 KiB  
Article
High-Fat, High-Calorie Breast Milk in Women with Overweight or Obesity and Its Association with Maternal Serum Insulin Concentration and Triglycerides Levels
by Michael G. Ross, Manasa P. Kavasery, MacKenzie K. Cervantes, Guang Han, Bernardo Horta, Kelly P. Coca, Suleyma O. Costa and Mina Desai
Children 2024, 11(2), 141; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/children11020141 - 23 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 843
Abstract
The childhood obesity epidemic continues to be a challenge. Maternal obesity and excessive infant weight gain are strong predictors of childhood obesity, which itself is a major risk factor for adult obesity. The primary source of nutrition during early life is breast milk, [...] Read more.
The childhood obesity epidemic continues to be a challenge. Maternal obesity and excessive infant weight gain are strong predictors of childhood obesity, which itself is a major risk factor for adult obesity. The primary source of nutrition during early life is breast milk, and its composition is impacted by maternal habitus and diet. We thus studied the relationship between maternal BMI, serum lipids and insulin, and breast milk fat and calorie content from foremilk to hindmilk. Women who were exclusively breastfeeding at 7–8 weeks postpartum were BMI classified as Normal (18.5–24.9, n = 9) and women with Overweight/Obese (OW/OB ≥ 25, n = 13). Maternal blood and continuous breast milk samples obtained from foremilk to hindmilk were analyzed, and infant milk intake was assessed. Women with OW/OB had significantly higher milk fat and calorie content in the first foremilk and last hindmilk sample as compared to Normal BMI women. Amongst all women, maternal serum triglycerides, insulin, and HOMA were significantly correlated with foremilk triglyceride concentration, suggesting that maternal serum triglyceride and insulin action contribute to human milk fat content. As the milk fat content of OW/OB women has caloric implications for infant growth and childhood obesity, these results suggest the potential for modulating milk fat content by a reduction in maternal serum lipids or insulin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Breastfeeding and Human Milk in Infants)
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