Editorial: World Breastfeeding Week 2024: an Obstetric and Pediatric Pharmacology Perspective

Olusola Olafuyi¹Amita Pansari²Philip Anderson³Karel Allegaert^4*

• ¹University of Nottingham School of Life Sciences, Nottingham, United Kingdom
• ²Certara UK Limited, Sheffield, United Kingdom
• ³University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States
• ⁴Department of Development and Regeneration, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

World breastfeeding Week (WBW) is celebrated annually in the first week of August, organized by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) the World Health Organization (WHO), and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), aiming to promote breastfeeding and its many benefits to mother and child (1,2). WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and if possible, continuing with supplemented breastfeeding for a further 1-2 years. These initiatives have significantly improved breastfeeding practices (1,2). Over the last 3 decades, death rates and disability-adjusted life years due to suboptimal breastfeeding reduced by approximately 80%, reflecting its relevant health benefit (3). Unfortunately, while the rates are increasing, WHO recommendations such as exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months are still only very partially attained. To raise the exclusive breastfeeding rate towards the WHO goals (achieving 70% exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months by 2030), targeted interventions are needed whereby participation of each stakeholder is crucial (1,4).Achieving this goal will require a better understanding of regional socio-economic drivers to develop tailored interventions, as well as the shared obligation to generate knowledge on pharmacotherapy and its safety during breastfeeding (4,5). There is still a huge information gap ('information desert') on medication safety during breastfeeding; even though most women require at least one medicine postpartum, in part due to a rising number in chronic diseases and pregnancies at later age (6,7).The goal of this research topic is to bring to the forefront critical research on breastfeeding from an obstetric and pediatric perspective, exploring a range of research strategies, involving in vitro, in vivo or computational techniques to address drug-related challenges associated with breastfeeding. We 35 intended to present diverse perspectives and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration deepen 36 understanding of the implications of use during lactation on both mother and child. This special topic has limitations on its diversity of topics since e.g. bio-analysis, data analysis 92 incorporating maternal medical conditions, or ethics are not present. However, based on the newly 93 reported information on how to improve computational techniques, on DRPs in lactating women, and 94 on drug-specific or generic approaches to assess safety of drug exposure during lactation contributes 95 to this overarching aim to convert the 'information desert' into a more sustainable environment for all 96 stakeholders involved. 97