Maureen Minchin

Lactation/ Health Educator

Medical historian and health educator, Maureen Minchin, has been involved in global efforts to promote evidence-based infant feeding for decades, and is internationally recognized for her pivotal role in creating the lactation consultant profession. She has been a consultant to international bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). She has educated health professionals, including through creating university-based cources in the UK and Australia. And she is an Editorial Board member for the open-access online International Breastfeeding Journal.

Maureen is also the author of Food For Thought: A Parent’s Guide to Food Intolerance and Breastfeeding Matters: What We Need to Know About Infant Feeding, as well as journal articles and background briefing papers for the WHO and USAID. Having three children in the 1970s, she experienced hospital practices that made breastfeeding difficult and allergy inevitable, with life-changing consequences for her children. She has since spent a lifetime providing advice and support to allergic families, while also working to improve health professionals’ education and training.

Episodes for this expert

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  Breast Milk and Your Baby’s Immune System

  We know breast milk is best for our babies, but how exact does it help and protect their immune systems? What immune disorders are specifically impacted by our infant’s nutrition? And what makes breast milk so powerful that some cultures consider it “white blood”? Today we’re learning why mother’s milk is widely known as the perfect food for your baby.

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