Birth is a significant life event and generally a happy one. Although labor is often challenging, it can also be empowering, with mothers experiencing elation and strength. Unfortunately, for other women, birth can be difficult, can be overwhelming, and can lead to psychological trauma. Some women may experience depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following their births. These effects can last for years and can cause difficulties in women’s relationships with their partners and their babies. Difficult births can also negatively affect breastfeeding. This article describes the prevalence of PTSD after childbirth and summarizes the symptoms so that International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) can help recognize it and refer mothers to appropriate resources.

Difficulty with breastfeeding in the newborn and new mother population is all too common, and too little is known about the type of healthcare assistance most relevant to these families. Therefore, 18 mothers were interviewed for their experiences with suboptimal breastfeeding and their perceptions of the healthcare they had received for the problem. These mothers attended an interdisciplinary breastfeeding clinic (midwifery and chiropractic) on the south coast of England. The goal of this study was to better understand mothers’ preferences in healthcare resources to facilitate the most efficient and effective assistance to improve breastfeeding for mothers and infants. The main themes were that mothers desired ongoing reassurance and contextualized, nonconflicting advice that was specific to their baby.

Objective: Ankyloglossia (or “tongue-tie”) may increase the risk for newborn breastfeeding symptoms. Lingual frenotomy is the standard treatment for ankyloglossia, but its efficacy at improving the quality of infant breastfeeding has received little formal study. We developed an original 10-question survey of mother and newborn breastfeeding symptoms that are typically observed with ankyloglossia. Possible survey scores ranged from 10 (minimal breastfeeding symptoms) to a maximum of 50 (extreme symptoms). We predicted that survey scores should decrease after lingual frenotomy.

Method: The survey was administered to mothers of 20 newborns with ankyloglossia, before lingual frenotomy, and about 2 weeks after. The control group consisted of 15 breastfeeding dyads recruited from a breastfeeding support group who filled out the survey twice at 2-week intervals. A 2 × 2 mixed-methods ANOVA was conducted to test for an interaction between group and time.

Results: Post hoc analysis of simple effects provided evidence that (a) the frenotomy group had higher survey scores than the control group before intervention and (b) the frenotomy-group survey scores decreased after the intervention. No significant score differences were observed between the frenotomy and control groups after the intervention, and the control group scores did not show a statistically significant decrease over time.

Conclusions: The study provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of lingual frenotomy for reducing breastfeeding symptoms associated with ankyloglossia. Furthermore, the study suggests that the use of surveys, such as the one in this study, may help with assessment for ankyloglossia.

Research data acquired from six up-to-date references on the effects of contraception methods and breastfeeding. Areas of interest are advantages, disadvantages, and effects on breastfeeding. There are no clear findings from these articles; the research studies have small parameters. However, they do provide needed education for our mothers in acquiring which contraception method fits their lifestyle and breastfeeding goal.

Breastfeeding pain is the second most common reason women stop breastfeeding (Strong, 2011); therefore it should be recognized early and treated promptly. Often pain from primary Raynaud’s Phenomenon of the Nipple (RP-n) imitates Candidiasis, misleading providers who prescribe antifungal medications. Unfortunately, the correct diagnosis comes after multiple doses of medication and no improvement in breastfeeding pain. Antifungals can further complicate diagnosis because they can cause nipple vasospasm as a side-effect of treatment (Bonyata, 2011). This article presents a case study of RP-n mistaken for Candidiasis. Evidenced-based treatment strategies, education, and close follow-up are minimum standards of care for women with breastfeeding pain. Fragmented healthcare systems can interfere with coordinated, evidence-based care. Raynaud’s and Candidiasis can present in very similar manners resulting in a clinical dilemma for providers. However, excellent systematic clinical assessment focusing on the characteristics of the pain can help to differentiate between the two conditions. An algorithm to assist providers in differentiating between the two has been developed.