Breastfeeding, Lactation & Breast Milk

The Breastfeeding, Lactation, and Breast Milk topic includes research on mammary development during pregnancy and post-lactational mammary involution; the effects of infections, vaccines, and substances on lactation, breast milk properties, or the breastfeeding baby; and the health impacts of breastfeeding on the child.

Breastfeeding, also called nursing, is the process of feeding a mother’s breast milk to her infant, either directly from the breast or by expressing (pumping out) the milk from the breast and bottle-feeding it to the infant. Breastfeeding provides infants with essential calories, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that support optimal growth, health, and development. Breastfeeding offers health benefits to both mother and infant and creates an important opportunity for the pair to bond.