Giving birth and breastfeeding are physiologically normal human behaviours. Once baby is born and placed skin to skin on its mother’s chest, it will instinctively start to search for the breast and latch on. Sadly that is not how most births go. Many interventions during labour and birth impact both the mother and the infant. Mothers are often discharged home from hospitals with breastfeeding in the process of still being established. Those who are having difficulties with breastfeeding are more likely to stop breastfeeding and not reach their own goals.

Neonatal hypoglycemia is one of the most common reasons for infant admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Over the past five to ten years, the long-standing guidelines for hypoglycemia and its treatment have been shown to be flawed and not research based. Threshold values relating to pathologic hypoglycemia have not been consistent, and interventions showed a wide range of disparities.

Breastfeeding, tongue-tie and frenotomy is still a controversial issue. Online, there are many different Facebook parenting groups providing family to family information about tongue and lip-tie. As well, there are professional groups providing support and information to both families and to the multidisciplinary professionals who together support these families. The goal is to provide evidence-based information and encourage further research in this area.

The International Breastfeeding Journal has recently published a series called Economic Aspects of Breastfeeding.  The articles and commentaries in this series provide information for policy makers and others on how breastfeeding can lead to health care and other cost savings. These articles also raise awareness among academics and the wider community, highlighting a new and publicly relevant area of research.