Use HealthReach to Locate Breast Feeding Resources in Multiple Languages

Posted by Alan Carr on August 1st, 2017 Posted in: Consumer Health, Events, Healthcare Professionals, NLM Resources, Search Tools

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August 1-7 is World Breast Feeding Week. Health professionals may need to provide reliable information about breast feeding to new mothers with limited English proficiency. HealthReach, a free online tool from the National Library of Medicine, includes printable handouts in multiple languages on the topic of breast feeding, as well as some video and audio resources. Following are a few examples of the many breast feeding resources to be found on HealthReach:

• Breastfeeding Basics (9 languages): This ten-page handout provides basic information about breastfeeding. It contains helpful tips about the mother’s diet, and identifies what to eat and what to avoid. It provides guidance for new mothers who are breastfeeding for the first time and lists feeding cues the baby will give when it is hungry.
• Breastfeeding Problems (8 languages): This ten-page handout provides helpful information for mothers who are having problems with breastfeeding. It identifies common problems mothers may encounter while breastfeeding, describes their signs and symptoms, and offers ways to prevent or alleviate these problems.
• Getting Started Breastfeeding Your Baby (13 languages): This fourteen-page illustrated handout educates women about breastfeeding. It explains the nutritional benefits of breast milk for the baby, and provides basic information about breastfeeding, colostrum, feeding schedules, and things to avoid.
• Pumping and Storing Breast Milk (9 languages): This ten-page handout provides helpful information for mothers about pumping (or expressing) and storing breast milk to relieve engorgement, increase milk supply, or feed their baby breast milk with a bottle.

In addition, mothers planning to breastfeed may wish to check the LactMed® database from the National Library of Medicine, especially if they take any medications. LactMed is a database of medications and other chemicals to which breastfeeding mothers may be exposed, and each record in LactMed focuses on a specific medication or chemical.