Sex, gender identity and women's health research and equality: An urgent need for clarity of language and accurate data collection.

Background: With the rise in salience of the concept of gender identity, changes are being made to language and data collection with major implications for women's health research and equality. Specifically, language referring to women is being desexed and data collection on sex diminishing. In 2023, Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) undertook public consultations on two draft guidance documents discussing use of the words 'woman'/'women' when describing the involvement of pregnant women in research, and sex and gender identity data collection.

Breastfeeding and infant care as 'sexed' care work: reconsideration of the three Rs to enable women's rights, economic empowerment, nutrition and health.

Women's lifelong health and nutrition status is intricately related to their reproductive history, including the number and spacing of their pregnancies and births, and for how long and how intensively they breastfeed their children. In turn, women's reproductive biology is closely linked to their social roles and situation, including regarding economic disadvantage and disproportionate unpaid work. , as well as and women's care and domestic work (known as the 'Three Rs'), is an established framework for addressing women's inequitable unpaid care work.

Breastfeeding grief after chest masculinisation mastectomy and detransition: A case report with lessons about unanticipated harm.

An increasing number of young females are undergoing chest masculinsation mastectomy to affirm a gender identity and/or to relieve gender dysphoria. Some desist in their transgender identification and/or become reconciled with their sex, and then revert (or detransition). To the best of our knowledge, this report presents the first published case of a woman who had chest masculinisation surgery to affirm a gender identity as a trans man, but who later detransitioned, became pregnant and grieved her inability to breastfeed.

'We make a mistake with shoes [that's no problem] but… not with baby milk': Facilitators of good and poor practice in distribution of infant formula in the 2014-2016 refugee crisis in Europe.

The Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies Operational Guidance (OG-IFE) gives direction on providing aid to meet infants' and young children's feeding needs in emergencies. Because of the risks associated with formula feeding, the OG-IFE provides limited circumstances when infant formula should be provided in aid. However, distributions against this guidance are common, reducing breastfeeding so risking increased infant morbidity and mortality.

Current Trends in Research on Human Milk Exchange for Infant Feeding.

Breastfeeding is critical for the healthy growth and development of infants. A diverse range of infant-feeding methods are used around the world today. Many methods involve feeding infants with expressed human milk obtained through human milk exchange.

Health and nutrition content claims on websites advertising infant formula available in Australia: A content analysis.

The use of health and nutrition content claims in infant formula advertising is restricted by many governments in response to WHO policies and WHA resolutions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether such prohibited claims could be observed in Australian websites that advertise infant formula products. A comprehensive internet search was conducted to identify websites that advertise infant formula available for purchase in Australia.

Shaken but not broken: Supporting breastfeeding women after the 2011 Christchurch New Zealand earthquake.

The 2011 Christchurch New Zealand earthquake adversely affected large numbers of people and resulted in many mothers and infants evacuating the city. In the town of Timaru, an emergency day-stay breastfeeding service assisted evacuee women. The service was established after media messaging alerted mothers to the importance of breastfeeding and the location of breastfeeding assistance.

'A better alternative': why women use peer-to-peer shared milk.

The process by which women came to use internet-facilitated peer-to-peer shared milk was explored via a written questionnaire administered to 41 peer milk recipients from five countries. Respondents were universally unable to provide some or all of the milk their infants required. Twenty-nine dyads had a medical condition that could have affected their ability to breastfeed.

"I'm happy to be able to help:" why women donate milk to a peer via Internet-based milk sharing networks.

The process by which women came to donate milk via online milk sharing networks was explored via a questionnaire administered to 97 peer milk donors. Seventy-one respondents stated that they were motivated to donate milk because they wanted to help someone. Many described milk donation as an empathic response to women with insufficient milk.

Peer-to-peer milk donors' and recipients' experiences and perceptions of donor milk banks.

Objective: To explore the intersection of peer-to-peer milk sharing and donor milk banks.

Methods: A descriptive survey design containing closed and open-ended questions was used to examine women's perceptions of peer-to-peer milk sharing and milk banking. Closed-ended questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics and conventional qualitative content analysis was used to analyze open-ended responses.

Media messages and the needs of infants and young children after Cyclone Nargis and the WenChuan earthquake.

Infants and young children are vulnerable in emergencies. The media plays an important role in aid delivery and has a positive impact when reports are accurate. However, the media has been implicated in encouraging harmful aid in the form of donations of infant formula and other milk products.

Milk sharing and formula feeding: Infant feeding risks in comparative perspective?

The advent of Internet forums that facilitate peer-to-peer human milk sharing has resulted in health authorities stating that sharing human milk is dangerous. There are risks associated with all forms of infant feeding, including breastfeeding and the use of manufactured infant formulas. However, health authorities do not warn against using formula or breastfeeding; they provide guidance on how to manage risk.

Emergency preparedness for those who care for infants in developed country contexts.

Emergency management organisations recognise the vulnerability of infants in emergencies, even in developed countries. However, thus far, those who care for infants have not been provided with detailed information on what emergency preparedness entails. Emergency management authorities should provide those who care for infants with accurate and detailed information on the supplies necessary to care for them in an emergency, distinguishing between the needs of breastfed infants and the needs of formula fed infants.

Mechanisms behind breastmilk's protection against, and artificial baby milk's facilitation of, diarrhoeal illness.

It is well known that exclusive breastfeeding provides protection against diarrhoeal infection, but the mechanisms behind this protection are poorly understood. In addition, it is well known that feeding a baby artificial baby milk dramatically increases the risk of diarrhoeal illness severe enough to require medical treatment, including hospitalisation, but the mechanisms by which artificial baby milk facilitates infection are largely unrecognised. This paper uses non-technical language to describe some of the known ways in which breastmilk provides infants with external immune support.

Supporting breastfeeding in emergencies: protecting women's reproductive rights and maternal and infant health.

Women have the right to support that enables them to breastfeed. Supporting breastfeeding in emergencies is important because artificial feeding places mothers and children at risk. In emergencies, artificial feeding is dangerous to the infant, difficult and requires substantial resources.

Milk sharing: from private practice to public pursuit.

After only six months, a commerce-free internet-based milk-sharing model is operating in nearly 50 countries, connecting mothers who are able to donate breast milk with the caregivers of babies who need breast milk. Some public health authorities have condemned this initiative out of hand. Although women have always shared their milk, in many settings infant formula has become the "obvious" alternative to a mother's own milk.

Long-term breastfeeding; changing attitudes and overcoming challenges.

The experiences of 107 Australian women who were breastfeeding a child two years or older were gathered via a written questionnaire with open-ended questions. Eighty-seven percent of women had not originally intended to breastfeed long-term and many had initially felt disgust for breastfeeding beyond infancy. Mothers changed their opinion about long-term breastfeeding as they saw their child enjoy breastfeeding, as their knowledge about breastfeeding increased and as they were exposed to long-term breastfeeding role models.

Breast is no longer best: promoting normal infant feeding.

The recent release of new growth charts by the World Health Organization (WHO) heralds a fresh understanding of what constitutes normal infant growth and development. The Multicenter Growth Reference Study that underpins these new growth standards 'establish[es] breastfed infants as the normative model for growth and development'. This is in contrast to past practice, which treated breastfeeding as the optimal, rather than the normal, way to feed babies.

A model for caregiving of adopted children after institutionalization.

Topic: Optimizing caregiving for newly adopted postinstitutionalized children.

Purpose: To consider a template of care for postinstitutionalized children based on experiences that physiological measures suggest are expected by infants postbirth.

Sources: Published literature and clinical experience.

The influence of context on the success of adoptive breastfeeding: developing countries and the west.

It is commonly believed that adoptive mothers in developing countries are more successful breastmilk producers than women in the west. A review of published research supports this assertion. However, an examination of the practice of adoptive breastfeeding in developing countries and in the west via the literature reveals differences that may explain the variation in success.

Mental health, attachment and breastfeeding: implications for adopted children and their mothers.

Breastfeeding an adopted child has previously been discussed as something that is nice to do but without potential for significant benefit. This paper reviews the evidence in physiological and behavioural research, that breastfeeding can play a significant role in developing the attachment relationship between child and mother. As illustrated in the case studies presented, in instances of adoption and particularly where the child has experienced abuse or neglect, the impact of breastfeeding can be considerable.