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Mastitis and related breast inflammation during breastfeeding (mother)

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.

Also called Lactational mastitis · Puerperal mastitis

  • Condition
  • In this atlas

Overview

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.

Recognition

The WHO review describes an inflammatory condition of the breast that may or may not be accompanied by infection and is usually associated with lactation.

Burden

  • Description Guidance Certainty not assessed

    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.

    Applies to Maternal
    • Women with mastitis, the inflammatory condition of the breast that is usually associated with lactation.
    • Not stated in the overview that was read (a WHO review of causes and management).
    • Global (a WHO publication)
    • The period of lactation after birth
    • Gestational age Not reported
    • Postnatal age Not reported
    Follow-up Not applicable (descriptive overview).
    Certainty method
    Not assessed
    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
    Next evidence check due
    Not scheduled
    Sources and citations (8)

    1. Background Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page)

      Guideline · World Health Organization · 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. · Published 2000-03-23

      Locator
      Page date line
      How it applies
      WHO publication or tool page (context for the claim).
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd
      Reuse basis
      WHO terms of use (fetched as ml-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab) allow short quotations with acknowledgment of WHO as the source and bar other uses without WHO's written authorization. The page bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution. The publication carries CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO on its page.

    2. Supports Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page)

      Guideline · World Health Organization · 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. · Published 2000-03-23

      Locator
      Overview, paragraph 1, sentence 1
      How it applies
      WHO publication or tool page.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd
      Reuse basis
      WHO terms of use (fetched as ml-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab) allow short quotations with acknowledgment of WHO as the source and bar other uses without WHO's written authorization. The page bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution. The publication carries CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO on its page.

    3. Supports Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page)

      Guideline · World Health Organization · 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. · Published 2000-03-23

      Locator
      Overview, paragraph 1, sentence 2
      How it applies
      WHO publication or tool page.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd
      Reuse basis
      WHO terms of use (fetched as ml-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab) allow short quotations with acknowledgment of WHO as the source and bar other uses without WHO's written authorization. The page bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution. The publication carries CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO on its page.

    4. Supports Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page)

      Guideline · World Health Organization · 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. · Published 2000-03-23

      Locator
      Overview, paragraph 1, sentences 3 and 4
      How it applies
      WHO publication or tool page.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd
      Reuse basis
      WHO terms of use (fetched as ml-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab) allow short quotations with acknowledgment of WHO as the source and bar other uses without WHO's written authorization. The page bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution. The publication carries CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO on its page.

    5. Supports Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page)

      Guideline · World Health Organization · 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. · Published 2000-03-23

      Locator
      Overview, paragraph 2, sentence 1
      How it applies
      WHO publication or tool page.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd
      Reuse basis
      WHO terms of use (fetched as ml-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab) allow short quotations with acknowledgment of WHO as the source and bar other uses without WHO's written authorization. The page bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution. The publication carries CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO on its page.

    6. Supports Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page)

      Guideline · World Health Organization · 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. · Published 2000-03-23

      Locator
      Overview, paragraph 2, sentence 1 (part)
      How it applies
      WHO publication or tool page.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd
      Reuse basis
      WHO terms of use (fetched as ml-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab) allow short quotations with acknowledgment of WHO as the source and bar other uses without WHO's written authorization. The page bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution. The publication carries CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO on its page.

    7. Supports Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page)

      Guideline · World Health Organization · 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. · Published 2000-03-23

      Locator
      Overview, paragraph 2, sentence 2
      How it applies
      WHO publication or tool page.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd
      Reuse basis
      WHO terms of use (fetched as ml-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab) allow short quotations with acknowledgment of WHO as the source and bar other uses without WHO's written authorization. The page bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution. The publication carries CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO on its page.

    8. Background Mastitis: causes and management (WHO publication page)

      Guideline · World Health Organization · 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. · Published 2000-03-23

      Locator
      Overview, paragraph 3, sentence 1
      How it applies
      WHO publication or tool page (context for the claim).
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      20b649d1eb73069837ad4f2efae34f70edb27a47e81a5bfa794396b78d6b40bd
      Reuse basis
      WHO terms of use (fetched as ml-who-terms-of-use.html, sha256 8edac88c0773639d74a023402b231adafb407e8a680e6620c099eb5a17fb61ab) allow short quotations with acknowledgment of WHO as the source and bar other uses without WHO's written authorization. The page bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution. The publication carries CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO on its page.

Record details

Record id
maternal:lactational-mastitis
Content hash
72ada8745c02b951b582e4f79d7b14a236a0c31d20be36ce83b1009a38928780