Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians

The Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians, 3rd Edition, is the definitive resource on breastfeeding initiation, maintenance, support, and advocacy. Jointly developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), this must-have handbook features the most important and up-to-date developments in breastfeeding practice, research, policies, and outreach guidance, assembled by an expert physician panel.

All health professionals in your practice will refer to this convenient handbook again and again for easily accessible answers, solutions, and teaching and learning aids.

The third edition contains a wealth of practice-focused advice based on frontline clinical experience and the latest evidence for breastfeeding.

Topics include:

• Cleft lip and cleft palate in breastfeeding infants
• Risk reductions in breastfeeding infants
• Neurodevelopmental outcomes of breastfeeding
• Breastfeeding in preterm infants
• Health benefits of breastfeeding for mothers
• Recommended breastfeeding strategies for health professionals
• Breastfeeding education
• Recommended breastfeeding practices
• Risk factors for lactation problems
• Human milk microbiota and bioactive factors
• Breast development stages and lactogenesis
• Supporting early breastfeeding before and after delivery
• Breastfeeding assessment tools
• Ankyloglossia and breastfeeding
• Insufficient milk
• Vitamin and mineral supplementation
• Breastfeeding guidance during preventive health care visits
• Management of breastfeeding complications
• Elements of a breastfeeding-friendly office environment
• National breastfeeding initiatives
• Feeding human milk without birthing
• Relactation
• Supplemental feeding methods
• Drugs and breastfeeding
• Contraception When Breastfeeding
• And more!

New in the 3rd Edition

• The latest AAP and ACOG breastfeeding policies
• An all-new chapter on the Non-nutritive Components in Human Milk, including bioactive factors and host defense mechanisms
• New guidance on breastfeeding and substance use, including electronic cigarettes and alcohol
• Updated life-saving breastfeeding support strategies for inclusion in disaster preparedness plans
• Current evidence on infant and maternal outcomes from breastfeeding
• Updated guidance on vitamin D, vitamin K, and iron supplementation in newborns
• Updated discussion of breastfeeding and environmental agents, including sunscreen
• New guidance for COVID-19 and breastfeeding
• Updated discussion of legislative protections for mothers in the workplace

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. The AAP is the largest pediatric publisher in the world, with a diverse list of resources that includes essential clinical and practice management titles and award-winning books for parents.


American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is the premier professional membership organization for obstetrician-gynecologists. The College produces practice guidelines for health care professionals and educational materials for patients, provides practice management and career support, facilitates programs and initiatives to improve women's health, and advocates for members and patients.


Dr. Richard J. Schanler, MD, FAAP, FABM, is the Director of Neonatal Services at Cohen Children's Medical Center and Northwell Health in Long Island, New York. He also serves as Program Director for the Fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. He is Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and Research Investigator at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research of Northwell Health.

Nutrition in the NICU is his major research and clinical interest. He has conducted studies focused on the effects human milk on the recipient premature infant and the how processing affects the composition of human milk. He has over 100 publications in this area.

Dr. Schanler is a member of the American Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is a former President of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and of the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation. He was a past Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding and is the Senior Editor of the AAP/ACOG Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians, now in its third edition.

Lori Feldman-Winter, MD, MPH, FAAP, FABM, is a Professor of Pediatrics at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and member of the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, at The Children's Regional Hospital at Cooper University Healthcare in Camden, NJ. Dr Feldman-Winter is recognized nationally and internationally for her work related to breastfeeding education programs and nutrition policy. She is Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding and former Chair of the Policy and Education Committees and executive committee for the AAP Section on Breastfeeding, AAP representative to the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), and member of the AAP Task Force on SIDS. She is a Board member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and a member of the editorial board of the Breastfeeding Medicine journal. She was Faculty Chair for the National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ) Best Fed Beginnings Project and is now Co-Chair for the MCHB-funded NICHQ National Action Partnership for the Promotion of Safe Sleep-Improvement and Innovation Network (NAPPSS-IIN). She is also a consultant and Physician Lead for the Center for Health Equity Education and Research (CHEER) Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices (CHAMPS) phase II project, funded by the Kellogg Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MS, and the Bower Foundation.


Joan Younger Meek, MD, MS, RD, FAAP, FABM, IBCLC, is a pediatrician and Professor of Clinical Sciences at the Florida State University College of Medicine, where she also serves as the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and the Orlando Regional Campus Dean. She is a former Academic Chair and Pediatric Residency Director at Orlando Health/Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, where she directed the resident rotations through the postpartum unit and special care nursery. She is a former President of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, a past Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding, and a past Chair of the United States Breastfeeding Committee. She was a founding board member of the Florida Breastfeeding Committee and the Mother's Milk Bank of Florida. Dr Meek has contributed to previous editions of the AAP/ACOG Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the AAP New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding, now in its third edition. She was instrumental in developing the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine's "What Every Physician Needs to Know about Breastfeeding" course. Educating medical students, residents, practicing physicians, and other members of the health care team about breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support has been a major focus of her professional career.