Breastfeeding
SMA® Nutrition is actively committed to supporting breastfeeding as the optimal source of nutrition for babies. With your support, mum and baby can learn together and settle into a routine that works for both of them. Our breastfeeding hub contains a wealth of valuable insights to help mother and baby, such as; responsive feeding, a guide on how to breastfeed a baby, the top five breastfeeding resources, a clinical paper on responsive feeding, and the feeding cues for responsive feeding.
Please download our step-by-step guide here on how to breastfeed a baby - to give to parents to help support mother and baby during breastfeeding. We discuss seven simple steps to follow, from latching to getting the right position.
As part of the baby friendly initiative, healthcare professionals have a responsibility to support parents and carers to engage in responsive feeding for breastfed, bottle-fed and formula-fed infants.1 Responsive feeding has been shown to be protective against childhood obesity2. This section explores overfeeding a baby and its effects, recognising hunger cues and the importance of responsive feeding. Additionally, please peruse this summary of a clinical paper on responsive feeding.
Responsive feeding helps to promote attentiveness to internal cues of hunger and satiety and successful progression to independent feeding throughout childhood. It has been shown to be protective against obesity in children later in life.3,4,5
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months postpartum and continued breastfeeding up to 2 years postpartum.6 Breastfeeding is associated with positive maternal and infant health outcomes.
We know that both breastfeeding and formula-feeding mothers experience guilt. Here we explore maternal guilt and shame in postpartum infant feeding.
- Responsive Feeding Infosheet - Baby Friendly Initiative [Accessed 09/25].
- Disantis K, et al. 2011. The role of responsive feeding in overweight during infancy and toddlerhood: a systematic review. Int J Obes (Lond);35(4):480.
- Black M and Aboud F. 2011. Responsive feeding is embedded in a theoretical framework of responsive parenting. J Nutr;141(3):490-4.
- Ramirez-Silva I, et al. 2021. Infant feeding, appetite and satiety regulation, and adiposity during infancy: a study design and protocol of the 'MAS-Lactancia' birth cohort. BMJ Open;11(10):e051400. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051400.
- Paul I, et al. 2018. Effect of a Responsive Parenting Educational Intervention on Childhood Weight Outcomes at 3 Years of Age: The INSIGHT Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA;320(5):461.
- World Health Organization. (09.25). Breastfeeding. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/health-topics/breastfeeding.