News:

Employment may play a role in shaping working mothers’ infant feeding behaviors

New Article:
WHO Growth Charts, Part 3.

New Reference:
Impact of micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy on birth weight , duration of gestation and perinatal mortality in rural western China: double blind cluster randomized controlled trial

Employment may play a role in shaping working mothers’ infant feeding behaviors

March 9th, 2010 - A new Study made in North Carolina, USA suggests that employment may play a role in shaping working mothers’ infant feeding behaviors.  Mothers who work full-time appear to rely heavily on prepackaged foods for meeting their infants’ feeding needs.  Although some prepackaged foods may be beneficial, such as iron fortified infant cereals, others including sugar-sweetened drinks, cakes, candies and cookies, and French fries are potentially problematic.  This suggests that feeding practices used by employed mothers may create added risk for short-term and long-term health and developmental problems among children.

Growth faltering in early childhood is even more pronounced than previously suggested.

March 8th, 2010 - Comparison of child growth patterns in 54 countries with WHO standards shows that growth faltering in early childhood is even more pronounced than suggested by previous analyses based on the National Center for Health Statistics reference. These findings confirm the need to scale up interventions during the window of opportunity defined by pregnancy and the first 2 years of life, including prevention of low birth weight and appropriate infant feeding practices

Newborn-care training decreases stillbirths in developing countries.

February 24th, 2010 - According to a study that tracked more than 120,000 births, the rate of stillbirths in rural areas of six developing countries dropped sharply (from 23 to 15.9 per 1,000 deliveries) following a basic training program in newborn care for birth attendants.

Common Antidepressant Drugs Linked to Lactation Difficulties in Moms

January 26, 2010—According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), women taking commonly used forms of antidepressant drugs may experience delayed lactation after giving birth and may need additional support to achieve their breastfeeding goals.

International Hospital Federation Announces Field Missions to Improve Patient Safety

The International Hospital Federation (IHF) has recently announced a partnership with the International Association of Infant Food Manufacturers (IFM) to undertake field missions in Peru and Indonesia. The missions will address patient safety, risk management and emphasize food handling within hospital and other healthcare settings. The goal is to understand the local and institutional beliefs and behaviors that govern patient safety and infection control, in order to establish guidelines for improved feeding practices.