SEMINAR: Breastfeeding Physiology

Lactation in mammals has evolved from providing exclusively immune protection to delivering a multitude of nutrients that mediate optimal growth and development of the young. Given the investment of maternal energy into lactation it is clearly critical to the survival of the species. Despite this little research has been conduction in the area, particularly with regard to women, compared to other species such as the dairy cow. Our group investigates almost all aspects of the physiology of lactation from milk composition, stem cells in milk to milk removal by the infant and the pump with the aim of providing evidence for clinical lactation protocols.