Factors that influence the composition of breast milk: integrative literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52521/nutrivisa.v12i1.15824Keywords:
human milk; breastfeeding women; breast feeding.Abstract
Human milk is the ideal nutrition for babies, but its composition can be influenced by several factors, including the postpartum woman’s diet and nutritional status, stage of lactation, and individual characteristics of the woman. This study aimed to analyze scientific evidence on factors that affect the composition of breast milk through an integrative review based on Ganong’s methodological framework. The search for articles was conducted in the PUBMED and VHL databases, as well as in the gray literature through Google Scholar. The search strategy was developed using the descriptors and keywords: "Nursing mothers," "Pregnant women," "Maternal nutrition," "Nutrition of pregnant women," "Hypertension," "Diabetes," "Tobacco," "Alcohol," "Obesity," "Malnutrition," "Age," "Poverty," "Prematurity," and "Human Milk," along with their equivalents in English and Spanish. The terms were grouped using Boolean operators. Articles with a quantitative or qualitative approach, published from 2013 to 2023 and available in full free of charge, were included. A total of 266 studies were identified, and 25 were included in the final sample. The extracted data were analyzed, coded, and categorized according to similarity. Two categories of factors affecting the composition of breast milk emerged: maternal and neonatal factors. It was concluded that sociodemographic aspects, lifestyle habits, overall maternal health, prematurity, birth weight, and type of delivery are related to breast milk composition. Some of factors these are modifiable and can be addressed through comprehensive care practices focused on women’s and neonatal health.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Leticia Gramazio Soares, Gabriela Gubert Fernando, Isadora Bussolaro Viana , Amanda de Paula Grad Kochhann, Marta Nichele, Bianca Machado Cruz Shibukawa , Jorge Marcelo Sauka
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