This project will investigate the types and durations of exercise that women participate in in the first six months. After birth whilst breastfeeding, we will investigate and measure milk composition in response to acute exercise sessions.  We will also track changes in milk composition (including maternal microbiome), milk production and maternal body composition over the lactation period.

It is becoming common practice to restrict maternal intake of certain foods to reduce perceived infant issues, such as colic and other conditions such as eczema. Whilst there exists little evidence for this practice, we endeavour to explore the prevalence of dietary restriction and compliance during lactation. Further, we will investigate perceptions of infant responses to the restriction.

This study aims to explore breast changes in adolescence and their associations with breast growth and development during pregnancy and breastfeeding outcomes. Pregnant women will be invited to participate in the study which will involves measures of breast changes (volume, ultrasound imaging) during pregnancy and the monitored during lactation.

Birth trauma has emerged as an experience which profoundly affects maternal well-being. This proposal aims to explore women’s experiences and how these have impacted upon their breastfeeding initiation and journey.

Infants born preterm often experience multiple health issues. Further, nutrition for these vulnerable infants is paramount to ensure adequate growth and development. Whilst breast milk is considered the optimal nutrition for preterm infants, women of preterm infants often experience difficulties building their milk supply as well as breastfeeding. This project seeks to understand the maternal and infant factors influencing breastfeeding a preterm infant in a contemporary cohort of women in Western Australia.

Often mothers struggle to produce enough milk for their preterm or vulnerable, sick babies due to maternal comorbidities. In this situation, donor human milk is the most desirable option to feed these infants whilst mothers establish their own milk supply. Thermal processing of donor human milk is carried out to reduce the bacterial and viral content of the milk to ensure no transmission to the recipient infant. However, increased bacterial loads diminish the impact of pasteurisation. This study aims to explore the impact of season on the microbial profiles of donations to the milk bank.

Mothers can now readily access diverse sources of information on feeding their babies. Much of this information conflicts with public health recommendations. This project will explore the sources of information that mothers access to make feeding decisions in addition to determinants of breastfeeding duration.

Milk production can be initiated, established, and maintained by breastfeeding or expression or both. This project seeks to understand the motivation for exclusive expression and the relationships with the amount of milk produced.

This project involves the development of analytics to measure melatonin in human milk.  Human milk melatonin will be measured across a 24-hour period at 3 months postnatal and analysed in relation to feeding, expressing and both maternal and infant sleep. Further, intakes of melatonin intake will be measured and related to both feeding and sleep.  at 6, 9 and 12 months. Finally, we will determine if human milk melatonin during breastfeeding is predictive between infant sleep patterns at 6, 9 and 12 months of age.