World Breastfeeding Week (WBW), held in the first week of August every year, is a global campaign supported by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF and many Ministries of Health and civil society partners on the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding. This initiative was started in 1992 to encourage mothers to breastfeed their children and build a support community for new mothers who face any difficulties in breastfeeding.

Why Did We Need An Awareness Week?

Gynaecologist, obstetrician and founder of Baby Soon Fertility and IVF Center, Dr Jyoti Bali with 26 years of experience says, “A reason why some mothers stopped breastfeeding was because of the increased marketing of formula as a convenient solution compared to breastfeeding.”

Experts agree that women undergo physical changes in their bodies during their pregnancy and while breastfeeding too, however, these have been exaggerated. “Breastfeeding can lead to temporary changes in breast size and shape, but these changes are typically normal and revert to baseline after weaning. Perceptions about breastfeeding causing long-term body changes are often unscientific or exaggerated,” says Dr Rao.

These were some of the reasons why women stopped breastfeeding and thus an initiative like World Breastfeeding Week was started. This also aims to highlight the health benefits to the mother and the child on breastfeeding.

Benefits of Breastfeeding on Mother

Rao says that for the mother, it helps in faster postpartum recovery, reduces the risk of certain cancers, and can help with postpartum weight loss.

“Breast Feeding helps the mothers to shed their pregnancy weight more quickly because the production of milk requires the burning of calories,” agrees Dr Bali.

Other health benefits to mothers are postpartum healing, bonding with the baby and a decrease in the risk of ovarian cancer, mentions Dr Bali.

Breastfeeding Benefits on Baby

There are also nutritional values that help a preterm baby in his or her development. “For example, breast milk's higher protein content makes it easier for premature babies to absorb and digest than formula, which encourages better weight gain. Premature babies often have specific nutritional needs due to their early birth. Breast milk provides a tailored balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that support their rapid growth and development. The composition of breast milk adjusts to meet the changing needs of a preterm infant, including higher levels of certain nutrients,” says Dr Goel.

Dr Bali also points out that breast milk contains antibodies, probiotics and DHA and ARA, a kind of fatty acids that are required for brain development. Thus, a baby can benefit a great deal from breastfeeding.

Health Risks When Not Breastfeeding

Poor breastfeeding practices in infancy and early childhood, resulting in malnutrition, contribute to impaired cognitive and social development, poor school performance and reduced productivity in later life.

Sarwa points out that psychological factors like stress, anxiety, postpartum depression, poor latch due to anatomical issues or improper positioning, and other medical conditions are the common reasons for this. “Identification and management of the specific cause, appropriate counselling by a healthcare provider, support (emotional and workplace both) and alternative feeding options,” he says.

Unable To Breastfeed Your Child? Here is What You Can Do

Do not be worried about its safety, Dr Rao says that donated milk is screened, pasteurised, and distributed to ensure safety and nutrition.

Are You a Working Mother?

“Purchasing a superior electric breast pump can increase the effectiveness of the procedure. Maintaining a consistent pumping schedule—ideally, every three to four hours—helps keep the milk supply steady. Pumped milk can be refrigerated for up to four days if stored in sterile containers or bags that have been labelled with the date and time. Milk can be frozen and thawed for extended storage,” suggests Dr Goel.

Massachusetts is moving to strengthen postpartum mental-health care after the controversial trial of Lindsay Clancy increased focus on gaps in treating serious mental-health conditions during and after pregnancy.

Governor Maura Healey has proposed $2 million to expand voluntary nurse home visits to families with newborns, along with $250,000 to strengthen a state program that helps healthcare providers identify and treat mental-health and substance-abuse problems during pregnancy and after birth.

The state's Department of Public Health will also update regulations governing perinatal mental-health screening to identify a broader range of conditions, including mood and anxiety disorders and postpartum psychosis.

Massachusetts Expands Postpartum Mental Health Screening

The current Massachusetts law already requires postpartum depression or major depressive disorder screening for eligible postnatal individuals receiving care from primary-care providers, obstetricians, midwives and pediatricians.

But mental health problems after pregnancy can extend beyond depression.

The state's updated approach is expected to give healthcare providers more opportunities to ask about a patient's mental health during and after pregnancy, including during visits with an obstetrician, primary-care doctor or pediatrician.

Healey said, “Becoming a mother is a profound life change, and every parent deserves support — not just during pregnancy, but in the months that follow.”

She added, “Postpartum depression, anxiety and other maternal mental health conditions are real medical conditions, and no mother should feel ashamed to ask for help or feel like she has to navigate this journey alone.”

The changes are particularly relevant because there is currently no validated screening tool specifically for postpartum psychosis. Massachusetts health guidance says diagnosis depends on a healthcare provider assessing the person's symptoms.

Also read: The Postpartum Nutrition Gap: Why New Mothers Often Neglect Their Own Health After Delivery

More About The New Programme

The proposed $2 million investment would expand the state's Welcome Family programme so that all families with newborns can be offered a voluntary nurse home visit.

Massachusetts has around 68,000 births a year, while the programme currently reaches about 3,000 families annually. During a visit, a nurse can assess the health of the mother and baby, answer questions about feeding and sleep, and connect families with additional support.

The state also plans to invest $250,000 in the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms, which supports healthcare providers treating maternal mental health and substance-use conditions.

The additional funding could also help track postpartum psychosis data and improve education for healthcare professionals, mothers and families about warning signs.

Also read: Paris Jackson Undergoes ‘Painful’ ECT for Depression: Can Electroconvulsive Therapy Reduce Suicide Risk?

Early Detection Is Key

Perinatal mental-health conditions can affect people during pregnancy and after childbirth. Depression and anxiety are more common, while postpartum psychosis is rare but requires urgent medical attention.

Massachusetts' move aims to ensure that mental-health concerns are not identified only during a dedicated postpartum visit, but also when new parents interact with other parts of the healthcare system.

The measures follow the trial of Lindsay Clancy, whose attorneys argued that she experienced postpartum psychosis when she killed her three children in 2023. Prosecutors disputed the defence's argument, and the jury ultimately failed to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial.

Healey said the bigger goal is to make conversations about maternal mental health more routine. She said, “To every mom who has struggled with her mental health before, during or after pregnancy, I want you to know we see you — I see you.”

A 54-year-old woman in Greece recently gave birth to a healthy baby girl using an embryo that had been frozen for more than two decades. The case has marked a milestone in IVF, raising an intriguiging question: does a frozen embryo eventually have an expiry date?

Cristina Rapti-Tzelepi and her husband, Constantinos Raptis, welcomed their daughter Georgia in Athens on September 9.

The embryo was originally cryopreserved in March 2004 and was transferred in December 2025. The baby weighed 3.49 kg at birth.

The couple decided to use one of their remaining embryos after their 21-year-old son, Giorgos, died in a road accident in October 2025. Their son had also been born following IVF using an embryo from the same original treatment.

The case is remarkable as the embryo remained frozen for more than two decades. But scientifically, that does not mean the embryo continued ageing for 22 years.

Does A Frozen Embryo Actually Age?

A frozen embryo does not age in the way a an actual human person does. During cryopreservation, embryos are stored at extremely low temperatures, generally around -196°C in liquid nitrogen. At this temperature, biological processes that drive cellular ageing effectively stop.

The key is maintaining stable cryostorage conditions. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine says cryopreserved embryos must be maintained under stringent conditions, with IVF laboratories monitoring liquid-nitrogen levels and storage systems.

So, an embryo frozen in 2004 does not biologically become a 22-year-old embryo. Its chronological storage time increases, but its cells are preserved in the state they were in when frozen.

Also read: Emma Barnett Reveals She Had A Hysterectomy After Endometriosis Battle: What To Know About Adenomyosis

Long Storage Of Embryo & Healthy Pregnancy

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in Human Reproduction Open examined 23 studies involving more than 250,000 embryo-transfer cycles.

Researchers found that embryos stored for longer than five years appeared slightly less likely to survive thawing, with some reductions in pregnancy and live-birth rates.

However, the outcomes stopped worsening after around two years of storage, with no further deterioration as storage continued for much longer periods.

Longer storage was also not associated with increased risks of premature birth, high birth weight, or birth defects.

Earlier research has similarly found no dose-response relationship between the duration of embryo cryostorage and pregnancy outcomes.

Also read: Explained: What Is Posthumous Reproduction?

Does An Embryo Have An Expiry Date?

Scientifically, there is no established biological expiry date for a properly cryopreserved embryo. The bigger concerns are the quality of the embryo before freezing, the freezing and thawing technique, laboratory conditions, and whether the embryo survives thawing.

There are also factors like biological limits and legal limits that affect IVF. In Greece, women currently have a legal age limit of 54 for completing IVF procedures.

Rapti-Tzelepi had only a limited window in which to obtain approval and undergo treatment. Her case is therefore not proof that every embryo can remain viable indefinitely. But it provides another striking example of how modern cryopreservation can preserve reproductive potential for decades.

Nearly 76,805 children and adolescents in India are estimated to develop cancer each year. At the same time, childhood cancer can be highly treatable when diagnosed early and managed appropriately, with survival exceeding 80% in settings where timely diagnosis and comprehensive treatment are available.

When people think about preventive healthcare for children, the conversation usually centers on vaccinations, good nutrition, physical activity, sleep and regular health check-ups. These are important for a child’s overall health. But prevention also involves something that is often overlooked: recognizing when a child’s health is changing and seeking medical advice at the right time.

Childhood cancer is different from many cancers seen in adults. In most cases, there is no clear lifestyle-related cause that parents could have avoided. A child developing cancer is therefore not usually linked to something the parents did or did not do. This is important because there is no particular diet, exercise routine or supplement that can guarantee protection against childhood cancer.

The Importance of Recognizing a Pattern

For doctors, one of the more practical ways to improve outcomes is to recognize when a seemingly common symptom is not following its usual course. Fever, tiredness, headaches, loss of appetite or body pain are frequent childhood complaints. But when they persist, keep returning or occur alongside other changes, they should not simply be treated repeatedly without evaluation.

• Unexplained weight loss

• Unusual bruising or bleeding

• Persistent bone or abdominal pain

• A growing lump or swelling

• Repeated headaches

• Changes in vision

These are some signs that may require further assessment. These symptoms are not specific to cancer, but their persistence warrants attention.

Why Early Diagnosis Matters

Most childhood cancers do not have a routine screening test for healthy children. Diagnosis therefore often depends on noticing an unusual pattern and investigating it appropriately.

A delay does not necessarily mean that cancer has been missed, but prolonged delays can allow some cancers to progress before treatment begins. For this reason, awareness among parents and healthcare providers, timely evaluation and appropriate referral are important parts of childhood cancer care.

Prevention Is Not Just About Avoiding Cancer

Vaccination still has a place in the broader cancer-prevention conversation. Hepatitis B vaccination helps reduce the risk of liver cancer linked to chronic hepatitis B infection, while HPV vaccination can help prevent HPV-related cancers later in life. However, these vaccines do not prevent most cancers that occur during childhood.

Similarly, nutrition should be viewed in the right context. A balanced diet supports growth and recovery, including during cancer treatment, but there is no specific food or diet that can prevent a cancer.

The Cost of Childhood Cancer

Childhood cancer can place a significant financial and practical burden on families. Treatment costs may be accompanied by expenses related to travel, accommodation, food and time away from work.

At the same time, families today have more avenues of support than before. Government health schemes, public healthcare facilities and non-government organizations can help with treatment costs and other practical needs. The challenge is ensuring that families are aware of these resources and can access them early enough.

Looking Beyond Treatment

Children who survive cancer may need long-term monitoring for possible effects of treatment on growth, development and other aspects of health.

For childhood cancer, therefore, prevention is less about finding a way to eliminate risk and more about reducing what can be changed: delayed diagnosis, interruptions in treatment and avoidable long-term complications..

(Dr Amita Mahajan, Senior Consultant, Pediatric Oncology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi)