Breastfeeding support and counselling
Help with breastfeeding from health workers, peers or programmes, offered before and after the birth. In 2025 the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended providing interventions or referrals during pregnancy and after birth to support breastfeeding. WHO recommends that mothers get practical support to start breastfeeding and to manage common difficulties.
- Intervention
- In this atlas
Overview
Technical summary
USPSTF 2025 (B recommendation) on primary care behavioral counselling to support breastfeeding, with moderate certainty of moderate net benefit (see the claim on this page); an earlier 2016 USPSTF statement with the same grade exists. WHO 2017 Recommendation 3 (recommended, moderate-quality evidence) on practical support to initiate and establish breastfeeding and manage common difficulties, in facilities providing maternity and newborn services. The PROBIT cluster trial in Belarus compared a package modelled on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative with usual practice and found more breastfeeding at 12 months and more exclusive breastfeeding at 3 and 6 months, fewer gastrointestinal infections and less atopic eczema in the first year, and no significant reduction in respiratory infection (see the claims on this page; the infant results are in their own context). The guideline records are linked through the claims; this record links to the shared USPSTF record in core. The recipient is the pregnant or postpartum person and, in the evidence, the infant.
About this intervention
- Type
- Service
- Mechanism
- Not reported
Claims and evidence
Context Healthy mothers who intended to breastfeed and their full-term infants, Belarus maternity hospitals (PROBIT, 2001)
- Recipient
- Mixed recipients
- Population
- Mother-infant pairs: full-term singleton infants weighing at least 2500 g and their healthy mothers who intended to breastfeed. 17046 pairs were enrolled and 16491 (96.7%) completed the 12 months of follow-up. Sites, not individuals, were randomized.
- Care setting
- 31 maternity hospitals and polyclinics, randomized as clusters: 16 to the experimental intervention and 15 to continuing usual infant feeding practices.
- Geography
- Republic of Belarus
- Life stage
- Newborns at birth, followed for the first 12 months of life
- Gestational age
- Not reported
- Postnatal age
- Not reported
- Follow-up
- Cluster-randomized trial conducted June 1996 to December 1997 with 1-year follow-up.
Eligibility: 2 inclusion criteria; 1 exclusion criterion
- Included
- Full-term singleton infants weighing at least 2500 g
- Healthy mothers who intended to breastfeed
- Excluded
- Not stated in the abstract
In PROBIT, a cluster-randomized trial in 31 maternity hospitals and polyclinics in Belarus, 16 sites received an intervention modelled on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and 15 continued usual infant feeding practices; 17046 mother-infant pairs took part and 16491 completed 12 months of follow-up. Infants at the intervention sites were more likely than control infants to be breastfed to any degree at 12 months (19.7% against 11.4%) and more likely to be exclusively breastfed at 3 months (43.3% against 6.4%, P<.001) and at 6 months (7.9% against 0.6%, P=.01).
Applies to Mixed recipients- Mother-infant pairs: full-term singleton infants weighing at least 2500 g and their healthy mothers who intended to breastfeed. 17046 pairs were enrolled and 16491 (96.7%) completed the 12 months of follow-up. Sites, not individuals, were randomized.
- 31 maternity hospitals and polyclinics, randomized as clusters: 16 to the experimental intervention and 15 to continuing usual infant feeding practices.
- Republic of Belarus
- Newborns at birth, followed for the first 12 months of life
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
- Certainty method
- Not assessed
- Limitations
- Only the PubMed abstract was read. The abstract prints an adjusted odds ratio of 0.47 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.69) next to the 12-month figures without saying what it compares, so this record does not interpret it. The registry lists no masking (masking NONE), and breastfeeding was reported by the study population, which can make the measure less exact. The intervention was modelled on the WHO and UNICEF initiative; the trial does not show how much any one part of it contributed. The trial ran from June 1996 to December 1997 in one country with a different health system from many others, so results may not carry over.
- Last checked
- 2026-10-14
- Next evidence check due
- Not scheduled
Sources and citations (12)
-
- Locator
- Abstract, DESIGN, sentence 1
- How it applies
- Design and dates.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, SETTING, sentence 1
- How it applies
- Setting.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
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- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, PARTICIPANTS, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 2
- How it applies
- Participants, part 1.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, PARTICIPANTS, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 2
- How it applies
- Participants completing follow-up.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, INTERVENTIONS, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 4
- How it applies
- Cluster allocation, part 1.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, INTERVENTIONS, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 4
- How it applies
- The intervention was modelled on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, INTERVENTIONS, sentence 1, fragment 3 of 4
- How it applies
- Cluster allocation, control sites, part 1.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, INTERVENTIONS, sentence 1, fragment 4 of 4
- How it applies
- Control practice.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 5
- How it applies
- Breastfeeding at 12 months.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 5
- How it applies
- Exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months, and the 12-month odds ratio.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 1, fragment 3 of 5
- How it applies
- Exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
Background Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial
- Locator
- protocolSection.designModule.designInfo.maskingInfo.masking
- How it applies
- Registry masking value.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- 2023-09-22
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
f8b8e567dd72dfca75c00c42cb90b05235a81cc23bf5a298952d2f1f32039760- Reuse basis
- Registry record. The raw API JSON is committed. The ClinicalTrials.gov terms page is rendered by JavaScript and its text was not read by a script, so the redistribution basis is unverified; any quotation stays short. The raw file is committed at research/snapshots/mj-ctgov-NCT01561612.json.
Context Infants in the first 12 months of life, Belarus maternity hospitals (PROBIT, 2001)
- Recipient
- Child
- Population
- The infants of the PROBIT mother-infant pairs, assessed for gastrointestinal tract infection, respiratory tract infection and atopic eczema during the first 12 months of life.
- Care setting
- 31 maternity hospitals and polyclinics (cluster-randomized sites).
- Geography
- Republic of Belarus
- Life stage
- Infants from birth to 12 months
- Gestational age
- Not reported
- Postnatal age
- Not reported
- Follow-up
- First 12 months of life (abstract).
Eligibility: 1 inclusion criterion; 1 exclusion criterion
- Included
- Full-term singleton infants weighing at least 2500 g whose mothers intended to breastfeed
- Excluded
- Not stated in the abstract
In PROBIT, infants at the intervention sites had a significantly lower risk of one or more gastrointestinal tract infections (9.1% against 13.2%; adjusted odds ratio 0.60, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.91) and of atopic eczema (3.3% against 6.3%; adjusted odds ratio 0.54, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.95) in the first 12 months of life, with the intervention group first in each pair. There was no significant reduction in respiratory tract infection (39.2% in the intervention group, 39.4% in the control group; adjusted odds ratio 0.87, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.28).
Applies to Child- The infants of the PROBIT mother-infant pairs, assessed for gastrointestinal tract infection, respiratory tract infection and atopic eczema during the first 12 months of life.
- 31 maternity hospitals and polyclinics (cluster-randomized sites).
- Republic of Belarus
- Infants from birth to 12 months
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
- Certainty method
- Not assessed
- Limitations
- Only the PubMed abstract was read. The abstract does not say that the intervention group is named first in the infection and eczema comparisons, so that order is an inference from the breastfeeding sentence before it. The trial tested a package that promoted breastfeeding; the infant results show what happened under the package and do not separate breastfeeding from other differences between sites. The registry holds longer follow-up outcomes for the children and mothers (adiposity, asthma, cognition and others); no results for them were read. Infant outcomes belong to the infant context and are kept apart from the breastfeeding result.
- Last checked
- 2026-10-14
- Next evidence check due
- Not scheduled
Sources and citations (4)
-
- Locator
- Abstract, MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 3
- How it applies
- Outcomes measured.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 1, fragment 3 of 5
- How it applies
- Gastrointestinal tract infection result begins here.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 1, fragment 4 of 5
- How it applies
- Gastrointestinal infection and eczema results.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 1, fragment 5 of 5
- How it applies
- Respiratory tract infection result.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
8dcbf9669d14648122628ab01147c489157378a3a94dcb01d7a0197aaf7d0137- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
Context Mothers and infants in facilities providing maternity and newborn services (WHO, 2017)
- Recipient
- Mixed recipients
- Population
- Women delivering in hospitals, maternity facilities or other facilities providing maternity and newborn services, and their infants. WHO says this includes mother-infant pairs with term infants, as well as those with preterm, low-birth-weight or sick infants and those admitted to neonatal intensive care units.
- Care setting
- Facilities providing maternity and newborn services.
- Geography
- Global (WHO guideline for use in national and facility programmes)
- Life stage
- Childbirth and the early postpartum and newborn period, during the stay at the facility
- Gestational age
- Not reported
- Postnatal age
- Not reported
- Follow-up
- Not applicable (recommendation context)
Eligibility: 1 inclusion criterion; 1 exclusion criterion
- Included
- Mothers and their infants in a facility providing maternity and newborn services
- Excluded
- Not stated in the parts of the guideline that were read
In its 2017 guideline on protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services, WHO recommends that mothers receive practical support to enable them to start and establish breastfeeding and to manage common breastfeeding difficulties (Recommendation 3). WHO labels it recommended, based on moderate-quality evidence. The guideline updates and supersedes the 1989 Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
Applies to Mixed recipients- Women delivering in hospitals, maternity facilities or other facilities providing maternity and newborn services, and their infants. WHO says this includes mother-infant pairs with term infants, as well as those with preterm, low-birth-weight or sick infants and those admitted to neonatal intensive care units.
- Facilities providing maternity and newborn services.
- Global (WHO guideline for use in national and facility programmes)
- Childbirth and the early postpartum and newborn period, during the stay at the facility
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
- Certainty method
- WHO 2017 guideline: the quality of evidence printed with Recommendation 3, graded by the WHO guideline group using the GRADE approach
- Limitations
- WHO uses three types of recommendation (recommended, context-specific recommendation, not recommended) and grades the quality of evidence for each recommendation as high, moderate, low or very low. The moderate-quality rating is the guideline's own and applies to this recommendation, so it is recorded as the certainty with that method. Only the recommendation list and the methods paragraphs were read, not the evidence tables. The guideline is for facility programmes and national policy, not advice for any individual. Whether a later edition replaces it was not checked.
- Last checked
- 2026-10-14
- Next evidence check due
- Not scheduled
Sources and citations (6)
-
- Locator
- Recommendations (page ix), Recommendation 3
- How it applies
- Recommendation 3 and its quality rating.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
192ac5cc6b548f67f6298485909cf4c680f4567f0df62525b3db5f7c47f266c5- Reuse basis
- Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO, as stated in the PDF. Only short quotations with attribution are used, and neither the PDF nor the page is committed. The non-commercial and share-alike terms need a licensing decision before any text is adapted.
-
- Locator
- Guideline development methodology, paragraph 2
- How it applies
- WHO recommendation types, part 1.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
192ac5cc6b548f67f6298485909cf4c680f4567f0df62525b3db5f7c47f266c5- Reuse basis
- Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO, as stated in the PDF. Only short quotations with attribution are used, and neither the PDF nor the page is committed. The non-commercial and share-alike terms need a licensing decision before any text is adapted.
-
- Locator
- Guideline development methodology, paragraph 1
- How it applies
- The GRADE method was followed.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
192ac5cc6b548f67f6298485909cf4c680f4567f0df62525b3db5f7c47f266c5- Reuse basis
- Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO, as stated in the PDF. Only short quotations with attribution are used, and neither the PDF nor the page is committed. The non-commercial and share-alike terms need a licensing decision before any text is adapted.
-
- Locator
- Purpose of the guideline, paragraph 1
- How it applies
- Purpose of the guideline.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
192ac5cc6b548f67f6298485909cf4c680f4567f0df62525b3db5f7c47f266c5- Reuse basis
- Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO, as stated in the PDF. Only short quotations with attribution are used, and neither the PDF nor the page is committed. The non-commercial and share-alike terms need a licensing decision before any text is adapted.
-
- Locator
- Recommendations, closing paragraph
- How it applies
- The guideline supersedes the 1989 Ten Steps.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
192ac5cc6b548f67f6298485909cf4c680f4567f0df62525b3db5f7c47f266c5- Reuse basis
- Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO, as stated in the PDF. Only short quotations with attribution are used, and neither the PDF nor the page is committed. The non-commercial and share-alike terms need a licensing decision before any text is adapted.
-
- Locator
- Recommendations (page x), Recommendation 14
- How it applies
- Recommendation 14 of the same guideline: antenatal counselling about breastfeeding.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
192ac5cc6b548f67f6298485909cf4c680f4567f0df62525b3db5f7c47f266c5- Reuse basis
- Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO, as stated in the PDF. Only short quotations with attribution are used, and neither the PDF nor the page is committed. The non-commercial and share-alike terms need a licensing decision before any text is adapted.
Context Pregnant or postpartum adolescents and adults and their infants and children (USPSTF, 2025)
- Recipient
- Mixed recipients
- Population
- Adolescents and adults who are pregnant or postpartum, and their infants and children. The counselling and referral is given to the pregnant or postpartum person in primary care; the benefits the USPSTF weighed include benefits to infants and children.
- Care setting
- Primary care (named in the statement title).
- Geography
- United States (USPSTF recommendation statement)
- Life stage
- Pregnancy and after birth
- Gestational age
- Not reported
- Postnatal age
- Not reported
- Follow-up
- Not applicable (recommendation context)
Eligibility: 1 inclusion criterion; 1 exclusion criterion
- Included
- Adolescents and adults who are pregnant or postpartum, and their infants and children
- Excluded
- Not stated in the abstract
In 2025 the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended providing interventions or referrals, during pregnancy and after birth, to support breastfeeding (B recommendation). It concluded with moderate certainty that primary care behavioral counselling interventions to support breastfeeding have a moderate net benefit. The statement covers adolescents and adults who are pregnant or postpartum, and their infants and children.
Applies to Mixed recipients- Adolescents and adults who are pregnant or postpartum, and their infants and children. The counselling and referral is given to the pregnant or postpartum person in primary care; the benefits the USPSTF weighed include benefits to infants and children.
- Primary care (named in the statement title).
- United States (USPSTF recommendation statement)
- Pregnancy and after birth
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
- Certainty method
- Not assessed
- Limitations
- Only the PubMed abstract of the JAMA statement was read. The USPSTF grade and its certainty wording are the Task Force's own and are not a GRADE rating, so the certainty field is left not assessed. An earlier USPSTF statement on primary care interventions to support breastfeeding (JAMA 2016, PMID 27784102) also carries a B recommendation; the 2025 abstract read does not say that it replaces the 2016 statement, so no supersession link is recorded. The abstract does not describe which counselling methods were tested. The recommendation is not advice for any individual.
- Last checked
- 2026-10-14
- Next evidence check due
- Not scheduled
Sources and citations (6)
-
- Locator
- Abstract, RECOMMENDATION, sentence 1
- How it applies
- The recommendation.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
b747e5c9660cb8087b81f5fb37b49980381af26ef3df4fb1d08001ba8f11b00a- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, RECOMMENDATION, sentence 2
- How it applies
- The grade.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
b747e5c9660cb8087b81f5fb37b49980381af26ef3df4fb1d08001ba8f11b00a- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, EVIDENCE ASSESSMENT, sentence 1
- How it applies
- Certainty and net benefit.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
b747e5c9660cb8087b81f5fb37b49980381af26ef3df4fb1d08001ba8f11b00a- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, POPULATION, sentence 1
- How it applies
- The population.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
b747e5c9660cb8087b81f5fb37b49980381af26ef3df4fb1d08001ba8f11b00a- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION, sentence 1
- How it applies
- The 2016 USPSTF recommendation.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
a1c916d34cc260434733e59cedc29866acdd09c599414a45c48cba61821a076c- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
-
- Locator
- Abstract, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION, sentence 2
- How it applies
- The 2016 grade.
- Retrieved
- Source effective date
- Not reported
- Source state
- Current
- Snapshot hash
a1c916d34cc260434733e59cedc29866acdd09c599414a45c48cba61821a076c- Reuse basis
- PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
Guidance
Recommended: Breastfeeding support and counselling
Applies to Mixed recipients
- Adolescents and adults who are pregnant or postpartum, and their infants and children. The counselling and referral is given to the pregnant or postpartum person in primary care; the benefits the USPSTF weighed include benefits to infants and children.
- Primary care (named in the statement title).
- United States (USPSTF recommendation statement)
- Pregnancy and after birth
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
- Issued by
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
- Guideline
- USPSTF 2025: behavioral counseling interventions to support breastfeeding; Breastfeeding: Primary Care Behavioral Counseling Interventions (USPSTF final recommendation statement page), edition Final recommendation statement page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mx-uspstf-breastfeeding-primary-care-interventions.html). The date under the title is April 11, 2025.
- Strength
- B recommendation
- Effective
- 2025-04-11
- Jurisdictions
- United States; note: United States (the issuer is a United States task force).
- Supersession
- Not checked
- Basis
- In 2025 the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended providing interventions or referrals, during pregnancy and after birth, to support breastfeeding (B recommendation). It concluded with moderate certainty that primary care behavioral counselling interventions to support breastfeeding have a moderate net benefit. The statement covers adolescents and adults who are pregnant or postpartum, and their infants and children.
Limitations. Only the PubMed abstract of the JAMA statement was read. The USPSTF grade and its certainty wording are the Task Force's own and are not a GRADE rating, so the certainty field is left not assessed. An earlier USPSTF statement on primary care interventions to support breastfeeding (JAMA 2016, PMID 27784102) also carries a B recommendation; the 2025 abstract read does not say that it replaces the 2016 statement, so no supersession link is recorded. The abstract does not describe which counselling methods were tested. The recommendation is not advice for any individual.
Recommended: Breastfeeding support and counselling
Applies to Mixed recipients
- Women delivering in hospitals, maternity facilities or other facilities providing maternity and newborn services, and their infants. WHO says this includes mother-infant pairs with term infants, as well as those with preterm, low-birth-weight or sick infants and those admitted to neonatal intensive care units.
- Facilities providing maternity and newborn services.
- Global (WHO guideline for use in national and facility programmes)
- Childbirth and the early postpartum and newborn period, during the stay at the facility
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
- Issued by
- World Health Organization
- Guideline
- WHO 2017: protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services; Guideline: protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services, edition 2017. ISBN 978-92-4-155008-6. The who.int page shows 2 November 2017, which the atlas uses for WHO sources and decisions. The WHO IRIS item record (handle 10665/259386, fetched through the IRIS API as mj-iris-item-10665-259386.json) lists an issue date of 2017-11-02, the same day. The PDF was fetched from IRIS (bitstream 601a8af5-0919-4ffb-a11d-fb534d96ed03) and has 120 pages. Whether a later edition replaces it was not checked.
- Strength
- Recommended
- Effective
- 2017-11-02
- Jurisdictions
- Global; note: Global (WHO guideline for use in national and facility programmes).
- Basis
- In its 2017 guideline on protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services, WHO recommends that mothers receive practical support to enable them to start and establish breastfeeding and to manage common breastfeeding difficulties (Recommendation 3). WHO labels it recommended, based on moderate-quality evidence. The guideline updates and supersedes the 1989 Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
Limitations. WHO uses three types of recommendation (recommended, context-specific recommendation, not recommended) and grades the quality of evidence for each recommendation as high, moderate, low or very low. The moderate-quality rating is the guideline's own and applies to this recommendation, so it is recorded as the certainty with that method. Only the recommendation list and the methods paragraphs were read, not the evidence tables. The guideline is for facility programmes and national policy, not advice for any individual. Whether a later edition replaces it was not checked.
Clinical links
Each link reports what one cited claim says about one population. "Evaluated for" means studied, not shown to work. These links do not show that anything is effective or right for you.
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Claim, not a settled fact USPSTF 2025: provide interventions or referrals to support breastfeeding (B): Breastfeeding
Applies to Mixed recipients- Adolescents and adults who are pregnant or postpartum, and their infants and children. The counselling and referral is given to the pregnant or postpartum person in primary care; the benefits the USPSTF weighed include benefits to infants and children.
- Primary care (named in the statement title).
- United States (USPSTF recommendation statement)
- Pregnancy and after birth
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
In 2025 the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended providing interventions or referrals, during pregnancy and after birth, to support breastfeeding (B recommendation). It concluded with moderate certainty that primary care behavioral counselling interventions to support breastfeeding have a moderate net benefit. The statement covers adolescents and adults who are pregnant or postpartum, and their infants and children.Limitations. Only the PubMed abstract of the JAMA statement was read. The USPSTF grade and its certainty wording are the Task Force's own and are not a GRADE rating, so the certainty field is left not assessed. An earlier USPSTF statement on primary care interventions to support breastfeeding (JAMA 2016, PMID 27784102) also carries a B recommendation; the 2025 abstract read does not say that it replaces the 2016 statement, so no supersession link is recorded. The abstract does not describe which counselling methods were tested. The recommendation is not advice for any individual.
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Claim, not a settled fact WHO 2017 Recommendation 3: practical support to start breastfeeding: Breastfeeding
Applies to Mixed recipients- Women delivering in hospitals, maternity facilities or other facilities providing maternity and newborn services, and their infants. WHO says this includes mother-infant pairs with term infants, as well as those with preterm, low-birth-weight or sick infants and those admitted to neonatal intensive care units.
- Facilities providing maternity and newborn services.
- Global (WHO guideline for use in national and facility programmes)
- Childbirth and the early postpartum and newborn period, during the stay at the facility
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
In its 2017 guideline on protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services, WHO recommends that mothers receive practical support to enable them to start and establish breastfeeding and to manage common breastfeeding difficulties (Recommendation 3). WHO labels it recommended, based on moderate-quality evidence. The guideline updates and supersedes the 1989 Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.Limitations. WHO uses three types of recommendation (recommended, context-specific recommendation, not recommended) and grades the quality of evidence for each recommendation as high, moderate, low or very low. The moderate-quality rating is the guideline's own and applies to this recommendation, so it is recorded as the certainty with that method. Only the recommendation list and the methods paragraphs were read, not the evidence tables. The guideline is for facility programmes and national policy, not advice for any individual. Whether a later edition replaces it was not checked.
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Claim, not a settled fact PROBIT: breastfeeding at 12 months 19.7% against 11.4%; exclusive at 3 months 43.3% against 6.4%: Breastfeeding
Applies to Mixed recipients- Mother-infant pairs: full-term singleton infants weighing at least 2500 g and their healthy mothers who intended to breastfeed. 17046 pairs were enrolled and 16491 (96.7%) completed the 12 months of follow-up. Sites, not individuals, were randomized.
- 31 maternity hospitals and polyclinics, randomized as clusters: 16 to the experimental intervention and 15 to continuing usual infant feeding practices.
- Republic of Belarus
- Newborns at birth, followed for the first 12 months of life
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
In PROBIT, a cluster-randomized trial in 31 maternity hospitals and polyclinics in Belarus, 16 sites received an intervention modelled on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and 15 continued usual infant feeding practices; 17046 mother-infant pairs took part and 16491 completed 12 months of follow-up. Infants at the intervention sites were more likely than control infants to be breastfed to any degree at 12 months (19.7% against 11.4%) and more likely to be exclusively breastfed at 3 months (43.3% against 6.4%, P<.001) and at 6 months (7.9% against 0.6%, P=.01).Limitations. Only the PubMed abstract was read. The abstract prints an adjusted odds ratio of 0.47 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.69) next to the 12-month figures without saying what it compares, so this record does not interpret it. The registry lists no masking (masking NONE), and breastfeeding was reported by the study population, which can make the measure less exact. The intervention was modelled on the WHO and UNICEF initiative; the trial does not show how much any one part of it contributed. The trial ran from June 1996 to December 1997 in one country with a different health system from many others, so results may not carry over.
Record details
- Record id
maternal:breastfeeding-support- Content hash
8abeece59cc6b73c4561c9cbd2e9dd01c9e6ef010f16d5397862b5dc3f27cf66