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General practitioners knowledge of breastfeeding management: A review of the literature

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posted on 2024-11-23, 07:43 authored by Jennifer James, Ruth Berkowitz
Breastmilk and breastfeeding are known to have significant advantages and benefits over the use of artificial formula for infants and young children[1-4]. These benefits are reflected in the increased costs related to preventable illnesses as well as the actual costs of artificial formulas[5]. Both the World Health Organization[3] and the National Health and Medical Research Council[1] Guidelines recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby¿s life, with the gradual introduction of appropriate, complementary foods and continuing to breastfeed for two or more years. Pregnant and breastfeeding women seek support from a variety of sources, and in particular, health professionals. The medical practitioner or general practitioner (GP) is commonly the first health professional women encounter during pregnancy. The GP will continue to provide care for mother and then mother and baby after discharge from hospital. This literature review seeks to determine what is known about medical practitioners' attitudes to and levels of knowledge about, breastfeeding and human lactation. The review also considers how they initially learn and then maintain their knowledge once in general practice

History

Journal

Public Health Research

Volume

2

Issue

1

Start page

12

End page

19

Total pages

8

Publisher

Scientific & Academic Publishing

Place published

United States

Language

English

Copyright

© 2011 Scientific & Academic Publishing

Former Identifier

2006030576

Esploro creation date

2020-06-22

Fedora creation date

2012-09-06

Open access

  • Yes

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