Paola Galbany, a lecturer at the FHSW, takes part in a study on breastfeeding in mothers who have not given birth

The lecturer and researcher of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare Paola Galbany has co-authored the scientific article Understanding the Challenges of Induction of Lactation and Relactation for Non-Gestating Spanish Mothers. The study, which has been published in the nursing, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology journal entitled  Journal of Human Lactation, is about the lack of knowledge surrounding the fact that mothers who have not given birth can also breastfeed their children. It therefore covers adopted infants, infants born via surrogacy, and infants born to same-sex female partners. This lack of knowledge also applies to healthcare professionals, and means that they are unable to inform the women concerned, and that opportunities to breastfeed are missed.

Gemma Cazorla and Noemí Obregon, midwives at the Parc Taulí Hospital, Josefina Goberna, a midwife and lecturer at the University of Barcelona and Galbany herself are the co-authors of this publication, which is part of the results of Cazorla's doctoral thesis.

The study looks at two processes related to breastfeeding. The first is induction. This method is aimed at women who want to breastfeed for the first time, and requires hormone treatment and breast stimulation, which is sometimes accompanied by drugs. The process should begin about five months before the baby is born, so that they can benefit from it from the day they are born. It is suitable above all when combining breastfeeding with formula milk, or sharing it with the pregnant woman, in couples consisting of two women. The other process, relactation, is suitable for women who have previously breastfed another child. Women who have adopted who wish to breastfeed can also do so using this treatment. The process involved is shorter than the first one, and drugs are administered to a more limited extent.

The interviews conducted for the project involved women from Spain – adoptive mothers, surrogate mothers and same-sex female partners – who went through one of the two processes analysed. The participation of breastfeeding groups and advisers in the field was crucial in obtaining the results, as it was impossible to consult any records of women who have gone through this experience because they do not exist.