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MSVU launches online milk, baby feeding hub

New parents seeking guidance on how best to feed newborns need look no further than an online knowledge hub launched by Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU).

In a recent news release, Lauren Leal, MSVU communications and marketing manager, said the Milk and Micronutrient Assessment (MAMA) Lab’s online learning hub is now online.

It was launched to share educational content on how to feed babies during their first six months.

Leal said the hub’s short videos and infographics are meant for the public, covering topics such as peer-to-peer support for breastfeeding; tracking baby growth without a scale; breast milk supply; how to support someone breastfeeding at home; overcoming guilt and shame and formula feeding. It will be updated over time.

The hub’s content is derived from parents’ experience during the first COVID-19 lockdown and pandemic restrictions but also address post-pandemic parenting.

“Parents and caregivers of young infants are in need of current resources from reliable sources,” said Dr. Kyly Whitfield, associate professor in the Department of Applied Human Nutrition and MAMA Lab director.

“Through our new online learning hub, we’ve sought to address infant feeding topics that are of greatest concern, based on input from the parents themselves.”

The hub’s mandate is to share findings from an earlypandemic survey of 300 N.S. caregivers in April and May 2020 finding that many parents experienced a great deal of stress and isolation.

“We found that parents’ pre-pandemic concerns about infant feeding were exacerbated by the provincial lockdowns,” Whitfield said, using mothers worried about maintaining milk supplies during the pandemic as one example.

“We’ve designed … videos to respond to the most common concerns from parents during lockdown, knowing that these videos can continue to provide useful information to parents beyond the pandemic,” Whitfield said.

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2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

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