Paper Summary
The American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) current recommendations on when to initiate breastfeeding include a variety of limitations and prerequisites. Each of them aims, in varying degrees, to ensure the mother and child’s maximum safety during the feeding process as well as the newborn’s maximum benefit. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ principal guidelines, which represent the introduction of changes, are that infants should be exclusively breastfed or provided expressed mother’s milk for the first six months of life. It is additionally preferable to continue nursing after this time, but the choice should be based on the mother’s and child’s unique features.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) jointly released a new list of guidelines in 2022 that promotes extending breastfeeding for newborns. After a year of breastfeeding, the mother’s milk retains the same amount of protein, lysozyme, and lactoferrin overall, and in some cases, even more, regardless of the decreased levels of potassium and zinc (Cuffari, 2022). The suggested feeding period has become two years, with the possibility of including complementary foods gradually after the first six months. The cause of the elaboration and implementation of breastfeeding changes is linked to the need for ensuring wellness of both mother and infant with no exceptions.
Prior to breastfeeding, the nursing parent should make a list of all medical history circumstances that might in a certain manner make it impossible to continue breastfeeding past the advised time frame. Since there are several safe counterparts available, the necessity to take medications frequently does not become a solid and acceptable reason for ceasing breastfeeding. The application of antimetabolites is necessary during the treatment of cancer, which is an exception. Additionally, breastfeeding is not advised for HIV patients due to the potential risk of passing the disease to the child through newly developing wounds. If the patient’s health status is still questionable, breastfeeding may continue to be an option until a professional consultation and updated guidance, taking into consideration the detected factors, are received.
The AAP advises maintaining a mother’s well-being at a similar level despite the importance of breastfeeding. First and foremost, this entails acknowledging cultural traits that the consulting physician should be aware of while assessing the patient’s health. To impact the expectant mother’s prenatal intention to breastfeed favorably, she should be in a friendly and secure setting. To prevent future lifestyle choices from affecting the quality of mother’s milk, the decision to begin breastfeeding should be made prior to conception or as early as feasible during pregnancy.
Benefits
The emphasized necessity for enhancing training, education, and development practices among pediatricians is one of the main benefits of the united recommendations related to breastfeeding and its favorable health consequences. In fact, pediatricians’ experience is essential since it enables them to engage with mothers who might wish to breastfeed or who are currently debating it. It is conceivable to say that social, ecological, and political issues should be taken into consideration due to the direct relationship and correlation between AAP, WHO, and AAFP breastfeeding conclusions and recommendations. Moreover, it is crucial to emphasize the benefit that is addressed to the calls to action for pediatricians and family physicians as it is a significant component of the organizations’ suggestions and changes. Furthermore, the benefits of the suggestions for the practice level in terms of medical professionals and family doctors who may be able to aid in the promotion of breastfeeding should be emphasized.
Negatives
It is reasonable to state that ethical considerations are not fully discussed; therefore, these aspects can be connected to the major drawbacks and negatives of the recommendations issued by the AAFP, AAP, and WHO organizations. Whether it is morally acceptable for both parents and children to be at risk from subpar institutional nursing support is a substantial ethical dilemma. Another limitation is how female doctors should manage the tension between their personal obligations and their duty of care to patients, particularly in the absence of multitasking. The existence of various incompatibilities and particular factors that may cause hazards and dangers is another shortcoming of the overall guidelines. Given the seriousness of the potential negative outcomes for both the mother and the child in this particular situation, healthcare issues must be resolved in clear, detailed manner.
Recommendations
It is feasible to suggest concentrating on the relationship between breastfeeding and medical constraints, taking into account the recommendations for additional research on the topic of benefits and challenges of breastfeeding guidelines. In reality, a detailed examination of the relationship between nursing and postpartum depression is required, along with a discussion of uniform diagnostic procedures. The implementation of maternity care practices and birth centers is the subject of the second proposal for future research. In order to assess the efficacy and efficiency of various approaches that are used to initiate and promote breastfeeding, more research is often required in this case. As a result, it is suggested to examine the statistical information for particular hospitals and birthing facilities that record and archive all the data and information related to breastfeeding and maternal care.
Reference
Cuffari, B. (2022). AAP recommends breastfeeding for 2 years. News Medical. Web.