[Breastfeeding Rates and Duration in Germany - A Systematic Review]

Aim: 20 years after establishment of the National Breastfeeding Committee, the present work, based on published data on breastfeeding, is aimed at providing insight into the development of breastfeeding behaviour in Germany. Methods: To identify relevant publications, a comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed and Web of Science using the search terms "breast feeding" or "breastfeeding" in combination with "Germany". The publication period was limited to the period 1995-2014. Results: A total of 35 studies with data on breastfeeding for the birth cohorts of 1990-2012 were identified. Most of the data had been collected in regional or local surveys, often retrospectively. About 60% of the studies had been conducted with the primary aim of collecting data on breastfeeding or infant nutrition. Over the past 2 decades, breastfeeding rates were always relatively high at the beginning (72-97%). However, they declined significantly within the first 2 months, and by the age of 6 months, only about 50% of infants were still breastfed. Conclusion: Breastfeeding support and early assistance should be offered to a greater extent in order to achieve sustainable improvement of breastfeeding frequency and duration in Germany. Regarding the quality of data collected on breastfeeding, it seems crucial to implement standardised approaches to monitor breastfeeding in Germany.

S3-Guidelines for the Treatment of Inflammatory Breast Disease during the Lactation Period: AWMF Guidelines, Registry No. 015/071 (short version) AWMF Leitlinien-Register Nr. 015/071 (Kurzfassung)

Breastfeeding is widely acknowledged to be the best and most complete form of nutrition for healthy infants born at term and is associated with numerous benefits in terms of infants' health, growth, immunity and development. However, breastfeeding problems often result in early weaning. Standardized treatment recommendations for breastfeeding-related diseases are necessary to optimize the care offered to breastfeeding women. Evidence and consensus based guidelines for the treatment of puerperal mastitis, sore nipples, engorgement and blocked ducts were developed on the initiative of the National Breastfeeding Committee. These guidelines were developed in accordance with the criteria set up by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften (AWMF), the Association of Scientific Medical Societies in Germany. The recommendations were drawn up by an interdisciplinary group of experts and were based on a systematic search and evaluation of the literature but also took clinical experience into account. Additionally good clinical practice (GCP) in terms of expert opinion was formulated in cases where scientific investigations could not be performed or were not aimed for. This article presents a summary of the recommendations of the S3-guidelines.