Exposure to dioxins during pregnancy harms the cells in rapidly-changing breast tissue, which may explain why some women have trouble breastfeeding or don’t produce enough milk, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

Variations in both milk feeding and in the weaning diet are linked to differences in growth and development, and they have independent influences on body composition in early childhood, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

A report published on the Lancet medical journal's Online First website draws attention to a substantial rise in incidence of type 1 diabetes in children. Type 1 diabetes is also known as insulin-dependant diabetes. Parents of these children have the task of giving their children or babies insulin injections several times a day.

The longer women breastfeed, the lower their risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular disease, report University of Pittsburgh researchers in a study published in the May issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Women who breastfed their babies for over a year were 10% less likely to develop heart problems and stroke than women who had never breastfed.

Some are uncomfortable seeing a woman breastfeeding in public. This time it is actress Selma Hayek. The actress is seen breastfeeding a starving African baby. But, the question Hayek asks, "would my baby want to share her milk with this starving baby?"

Many studies have shown that breastfeeding appears to reduce the chance of children developing asthma. But a newly published study led by a University of Alberta professor has found that eating fast food more than once or twice a week negated the beneficial effects that breastfeeding has in protecting children from the respiratory disease.

Dr. Michael Lisanti and colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University found that extended lactation protects again mammary tumor development. These findings are presented in the February 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

Babies born to HIV-positive mothers and given the antiretroviral drug nevirapine through the first six weeks of life to prevent infection via breast-feeding are at high risk for developing drug-resistant HIV if they get infected anyway, a team of researchers report.

Two new studies led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, suggest that taking maternity leave before and after the birth of a baby is a good investment in terms of health benefits for both mothers and newborns.

Breastfeeding has a number of positive health benefits for baby: it can prevent ear infections and allergies, and lowers the risk of developing respiratory problems. It can also help prevent against obesity later in life, but the reason for this still isn't known.

The English healthcare system is failing to encourage breast feeding and a national strategy to promote breast feeding is urgently needed, say experts on bmj.com today.