Written and edited by leading physicians, Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession, 9th Edition, offers comprehensive, dependable information and guidance in this multifaceted field. Award-winning author and co-founder of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, Dr. Ruth Lawrence, and her son, Dr. Rob Lawrence, ensure that you're brought fully up to date on everything from basic data on the anatomical, physiological, biochemical, nutritional, immunological, and psychological aspects of human lactation, to the problems of clinical management of breastfeeding all in a highly readable, easily accessible desk reference.

Helps you make appropriate drug recommendations, treat conditions associated with breastfeeding, and provide thoughtful guidance to the breastfeeding mother according to her circumstances, problems, and lifestyle.

Includes numerous charts and tables throughout, with an emphasis on the scientific, chemical, and physiological underpinnings of breastfeeding. Appendices contain additional charts and tables, including the complete collection of clinical protocols on breastfeeding and human milk from the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.

Features new chapters on breast conditions and their management in the breastfeeding mother, breastfeeding and chest-feeding for LGBTQ+ families, breastfeeding during disasters, and establishing a breastfeeding practice or academic department.

Provides significant updates on physiology and biochemistry of lactation; medications and herbal preparations in breast milk; transmission of infectious disease through breast milk; allergy and its relationship with breastfeeding, exposure, and avoidance; premature infants and breastfeeding; and practical management of the mother-infant nursing couple.

Offers authoritative and fresh perspectives from new associate editors: neonatologist Dr. Larry Noble, obstetrician Dr. Alison Stuebe, and pediatrician and lactation specialist Dr. Casey Rosen-Carole.

Covers patient-centered counseling, the cellular composition of human breast milk, microbiota of the breast and human milk, and the multifunctional roles of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).

Enhanced eBook version included with purchase. Your enhanced eBook allows you to access all of the text, figures, and references from the book on a variety of devices.

By Ruth A. Lawrence, MD, Northumberland Trust Chair in Pediatrics, Distinguished Alumna Professor of Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and Gynecology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York and Robert M. Lawrence, MD, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Pediatric Immunology, Rheumatology, and Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.


1. Breastfeeding in a New Era

2. Anatomy of the Breast

3. Physiology of Lactation

4. Biochemistry of Human Milk

5. Host-Resistance Factors and Immunologic Significance of Human Milk

6. Population Health and Informed Feeding Decisions

7. Practical Management of the Nursing "Dyad"

8. Maternal Nutrition and Supplements for Mother and Infant

9. Weaning

10. Normal Growth, Growth Faltering, and Obesity in Breastfed Infants

11. Medications, Herbal Preparations and Natural Products in Breast Milk

12. Transmission of Infectious Disease Through Breast Milk and Breastfeeding

13. Breastfeeding Infants with Problems

14. Premature Infants and Breastfeeding

15. Medical Complications of Mothers

16. Breast Conditions in the Breastfeeding Mother

17. Human Milk and Atopic Disease

18. Breastfeeding and Return to Work or School

19. Induced Lactation and Relactation (Including Nursing an Adopted Baby) and Cross-Nursing

20. Chestfeeding and Lactation Care for LGBTQ+ Families

21. Reproductive Function During Lactation

22. The Collection and Storage of Human Milk and Human Milk Banking

23. Infant Feeding After a Disasters

24. Establishing a Breastfeeding Medicine Practice or Academic Department

25. Breastfeeding Support Groups and Community Resources

26. Educating and Training the Medical Profession