World Breastfeeding Week, celebrated annually from 1–7 August, highlights the vital role of breastfeeding in improving the health and well-being of mothers and infants. Breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition, strengthens infant immunity, supports maternal health, and contributes to reducing the burden of disease throughout life. Yet many families continue to face barriers to breastfeeding, including limited access to skilled support, inequitable policies, and the persistent influence of breast milk substitute marketing.
Advancing breastfeeding is therefore not only a public health priority but also an important contributor to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being. To mark World Breastfeeding Week 2026, we have curated a selection of Springer Nature collections and research highlights showcasing recent advances in breastfeeding research, maternal and infant health, donor human milk, fertility, cancer prevention and public health policy.
Strengthen what works, starting today
A message from the Editors-in-Chief of International Breastfeeding Journal, Dr Cecília Tomori and Dr Sonia Hernández Cordero
This year, the World Breastfeeding Week theme is: “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works”. The theme reminds us that an interconnected chain of protection, promotion and support needs to be strengthened to enable mothers and children to exercise their right to breastfeeding. The support chain must include and simultaneously function across health systems, workplaces, communities and families. Importantly, it must hold fast not only in stable settings but also during humanitarian emergencies, climate-related displacements, armed conflict and other socioeconomic crises. Breastfeeding becomes even more critical for adequate nutrition, food security, and poverty reduction in these circumstances.
For more than three decades, World Breastfeeding Week has been marked every year during the first week of August. It is a joint initiative of the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) to promote, protect and support breastfeeding worldwide. Since 2016 it has been linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, given its bearing on maternal and child health.
Rather than adding new, fragmented interventions, this year's call is to consolidate and strengthen evidence-based strategies. As Editors-in-Chief, we are pleased to amplify this call and look forward to strengthening what works via comprehensive, evidence-based, and systems-thinking research.
Highlights from across Springer Nature
Research highlights
Suboptimal breastfeeding contributes substantially to infant morbidity and mortality, yet the marketing of breast milk substitutes (BMS) can undermine breastfeeding practices. This nationwide cross-sectional study identified widespread violations of Bangladesh's BMS legislation across retail outlets, healthcare facilities and health professionals, highlighting the need for stronger monitoring, enforcement, professional training and public awareness to better protect breastfeeding and infant health.
This meta-analysis of 23 observational studies found that women who breastfed had a lower risk of breast cancer than women who never breastfed, with the greatest protective effect observed after more than 11 months of breastfeeding. These findings reinforce breastfeeding promotion as a practical, low-cost strategy for breast cancer prevention.
Using nationally representative US data, this study investigated breastfeeding practices among foreign-born non-Hispanic mothers. While breastfeeding initiation and duration were generally high, exclusive breastfeeding remained below recommendations, highlighting opportunities for targeted support and future interventions.
This retrospective cohort study found no evidence that breastfeeding during frozen embryo transfer adversely affected pregnancy, miscarriage or live birth outcomes. The findings provide reassuring preliminary evidence for patients considering fertility treatment while continuing to breastfeed.
This national consensus study harmonized surveillance and risk-reduction recommendations for unaffected female BRCA1/2 carriers across Israel. The resulting framework aims to standardize care, reduce variation in clinical practice, and improve equitable access to evidence-based cancer prevention strategies.
Clinical study spotlight
This registered randomized controlled trial at the University of Malaya Medical Centre will investigate whether involving partners in structured breastfeeding counselling improves exclusive breastfeeding at six months among first-time mothers. The study will also assess maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy and partners' breastfeeding attitudes while recruitment continues through 2027.
Featured collections
This collection highlights research on implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, covering legislation, monitoring, advocacy and regulatory approaches that help protect and promote breastfeeding.
Infant Feeding - Scientific Reports
This collection brings together research on breastfeeding, infant nutrition, complementary feeding, and the biological, environmental and social factors that influence infant feeding practices and early-life health.
Focusing on the biology of lactation, this collection explores mammary gland development, normal breastfeeding physiology, and the mechanisms underlying lactation disorders.
Becoming Baby-friendly: What works? - International Breastfeeding Journal
This collection examines implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative across diverse healthcare settings, highlighting evidence-based approaches that improve breastfeeding support and outcomes.
This collection explores the expanding role of donor human milk, including milk banking, policy development, innovation, equitable access and clinical implementation.
This collection showcases research aimed at strengthening maternal confidence, healthcare support and interventions that improve breastfeeding initiation and continuation.
Strengthening what works requires sustained commitment from researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, advocates, and communities alike. We invite you to explore the resources highlighted here and join the global effort to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding for every mother and child.