HFM and UR Medicine Physicians Contribute to New Prenatal Breastfeeding Protocol
In August 2024, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) issued a revision to its “Breastfeeding Promotion in the Prenatal Period” clinical protocol, which was originally published in 2015. Annie Jack, M.D., led the team that included Elizabeth Brown, M.D., MPH, and Scott Hartman, M.D., to update this protocol.A global organization of medical doctors with more than 1,200 members, the ABM aims to educate and empower health professionals to support and manage breastfeeding, lactation, and human milk feeding to achieve healthier lives worldwide.
The group advocates that breastfeeding and lactation education be integrated into routine care as soon as possible in the prenatal period. The protocol update (Clinical Protocol #19) is intended to serve as a guideline for health care providers, lactation specialists, peer supporters, and families and partners. It includes new information on prenatal breastfeeding counseling for pregnant patients with specific health conditions, as well as guidance on evidence-based ways to best provide this education to patients.
In the ABM’s update, prenatal and breastfeeding medicine practitioners are supplied with even more evidence-based recommendations, to help individuals and organizations advocate for integrating prenatal breastfeeding promotion into their existing systems.
Drs. Brown, Jack, and Hartman reviewed literature on prenatal breastfeeding published since the original protocol was established. The goal was to help create an evidence-based recommendation to improve breastfeeding.
“We looked at the literature published since the last protocol – from all around the world – to find a level of evidence showing actual interventions that helped increase breastfeeding rates,” Dr. Brown said. “Ulttimately, we want to make sure people can meet their breastfeeding goals.”
View the ABM’s free Clinical Protocol #19.
4/3/2025
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