Maternal infection and breastfeeding

Abstract

Breast milk is the best food for infants. However, worrying about the transmission of pathogens to their offspring, mothers who have ongoing infections are usually hesitated on breastfeeding, or even unwillingly give up breastfeeding. This article summarized some basic knowledge and evidence on breastfeeding when maternal infections occur and emphasized that there is no risk of hepatitis virus transmission during breastfeeding. After taking appropriate measures, mothers with transmittable diseases through breastfeeding can still breastfeed their babies. This review provides reasonable medical advice on whether to breastfeed when maternal infection occurs in order to increase breastfeeding rate. Key words: Mothers; Communicable diseases; Breast feeding