Nurses and other health care providers should support each woman’s choice of infant nutrition by providing women with information about the risks and benefits of various feeding options to facilitate informed decision making. There may be certain rare instances when a woman wants to breastfeed, but is unable to or should avoid doing so, including
some women who have had breast surgery, women with HIV infection, certain substance use disorders, untreated tuberculosis, or who are taking medications contraindicated in breastfeeding. In these situations, women should be given information by their nurses and encouraged to further consult with their health care providers to help them make infant feeding decisions. There may be other instances where women erroneously think that breastfeeding is contraindicated (e.g.,smoking cigarettes), and nurses should provide correct information regarding these misconceptions. Nurses should encourage women to discuss their medications and herbal and other nutritional supplements with a health care provider who has expertise in breastfeeding and is knowledgeable about the interactions of prescription and overthe-
counter medications and supplements with breastfeeding.
If a woman chooses to or is required to formula feed instead of breastfeed, nurses should help her, her family, and other support persons understand how to safely prepare, feed, and store formula and bottles. Education and resources should also include information about the risks of contamination of formula, feeding systems, and/or water supply. Women should be advised to monitor whether a particular feeding system and/or formula is recalled for safety or other reasons.