# Mastitis and related breast inflammation during breastfeeding (mother) Condition · id `maternal:lactational-mastitis` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `fc5a600ec7387e71` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Also called: Lactational mastitis; Puerperal mastitis Browse, life stage: Postpartum Browse, care area: Breastfeeding and lactation ## In plain language Mastitis is inflammation of the breast, usually while a woman is breastfeeding. It may or may not involve infection. A WHO review says poor breastfeeding technique that leaves milk in the breast is an important underlying cause, and that many health professionals may advise women to stop breastfeeding when they do not need to. ## Technical summary This page rests on the overview of a WHO review of 2000 (WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages, who.int page date 23 March 2000; more than 26 years old), which defines mastitis, names breast abscess as a severe complication and says it can occasionally be fatal if inadequately treated. No treatment advice is recorded because only the overview was read. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine's 2022 clinical protocol on the mastitis spectrum was not used: its abstract holds only the Academy's description of its protocols and a note on inclusive language, its full text was not read, and PubMed lists an erratum for it. The recipient is the breastfeeding mother. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Women who are breastfeeding and may develop mastitis (WHO 2000 review) Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women with mastitis, the inflammatory condition of the breast that is usually associated with lactation.; Care setting: Not stated in the overview that was read (a WHO review of causes and management).; Geography: Global (a WHO publication); Life stage: The period of lactation after birth; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (descriptive overview). ### A WHO review of 2000 describes mastitis as an inflammatory condition of the breast that may or may not be accompanied by infection and is usually associated with lactation, so it is also called lactational or puerperal mastitis. It says mastitis can occasionally be fatal if inadequately treated, and that breast abscess, a localised collection of pus in the breast, is a severe complication. It says awareness is growing that inefficient removal of milk from poor breastfeeding technique is an important underlying cause, but that mastitis remains synonymous with breast infection in the minds of many health professionals, who are often unable to help a woman with the condition continue to breastfeed and may advise her unnecessarily to stop. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Guidance - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women with mastitis, the inflammatory condition of the breast that is usually associated with lactation.; Care setting: Not stated in the overview that was read (a WHO review of causes and management).; Geography: Global (a WHO publication); Life stage: The period of lactation after birth; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (descriptive overview). - Limitations: The who.int page date is 23 March 2000, so the statements are more than 26 years old and later practice may differ. Only the page overview was read, not the 45-page document, so no treatment advice is recorded. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine's 2022 protocol on the mastitis spectrum has an abstract that contains only the Academy's description of its protocols and a note on inclusive language, its full text was not read, and PubMed lists an erratum for it, so no claim rests on it. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Background: Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages. The date is the who.int page date, 23 March 2000, so the page is more than 26 years old. Only the page overview was read, not the document.) Locator: Page date line. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd. How it applies: WHO publication or tool page (context for the claim). 2. Supports: Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages. The date is the who.int page date, 23 March 2000, so the page is more than 26 years old. Only the page overview was read, not the document.) Locator: Overview, paragraph 1, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd. How it applies: WHO publication or tool page. 3. Supports: Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages. The date is the who.int page date, 23 March 2000, so the page is more than 26 years old. Only the page overview was read, not the document.) Locator: Overview, paragraph 1, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd. How it applies: WHO publication or tool page. 4. Supports: Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages. The date is the who.int page date, 23 March 2000, so the page is more than 26 years old. Only the page overview was read, not the document.) Locator: Overview, paragraph 1, sentences 3 and 4. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd. How it applies: WHO publication or tool page. 5. Supports: Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages. The date is the who.int page date, 23 March 2000, so the page is more than 26 years old. Only the page overview was read, not the document.) Locator: Overview, paragraph 2, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd. How it applies: WHO publication or tool page. 6. Supports: Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages. The date is the who.int page date, 23 March 2000, so the page is more than 26 years old. Only the page overview was read, not the document.) Locator: Overview, paragraph 2, sentence 1 (part). Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd. How it applies: WHO publication or tool page. 7. Supports: Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages. The date is the who.int page date, 23 March 2000, so the page is more than 26 years old. Only the page overview was read, not the document.) Locator: Overview, paragraph 2, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd. How it applies: WHO publication or tool page. 8. Background: Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page) (Guideline, edition WHO/FCH/CAH/00.13, 45 pages. The date is the who.int page date, 23 March 2000, so the page is more than 26 years old. Only the page overview was read, not the document.) Locator: Overview, paragraph 3, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd. How it applies: WHO publication or tool page (context for the claim). ## Connected pages - Common problem: Breastfeeding (`maternal:breastfeeding`) - Care for the mother in the weeks after birth (hub page): Postnatal care for the mother (`maternal:postnatal-care`) - Filed under this front: Medicines and vaccines (`maternal:front-medicines-and-vaccines`) ## Provenance Content hash: 72ada8745c02b951b582e4f79d7b14a236a0c31d20be36ce83b1009a38928780 Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15