Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio

Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio is dedicated to helping breastfeeding families She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.

Dr. Ann Witt is a board-certified family physician with more than a decade of experience caring for women and children, including both personal and professional experience with breastfeeding. A Cleveland native, Dr. Witt graduated from CWRU School of Medicine and completed additional training in Seattle, WA. Dr. Witt is one of a handful of physicians in Ohio who is IBCLC certified.

Monday mornings can be challenging to get up and going. A common question we receive is can I have my morning cup of c...
04/13/2026

Monday mornings can be challenging to get up and going. A common question we receive is can I have my morning cup of coffee. The answer is YES!
With caffeine we're just looking at moderation and your morning cup of coffee fits into that.
Let us know if other questions! and Happy Monday

It is often assumed that breastfeeding depletes calcium stores, with concern that could negatively affects bone health. ...
04/07/2026

It is often assumed that breastfeeding depletes calcium stores, with concern that could negatively affects bone health. A recent study, examining other factors in bone strength, report that Maternal Brain Hormone, secreted during lactation, may not only protect against bone loss but actually increase bone mass.

For more details see: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07634-3

Did you know? Lactation and metabolism are interconnected, with several studies noting that individuals who breastfeed a...
03/30/2026

Did you know?
Lactation and metabolism are interconnected, with several studies noting that individuals who breastfeed are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life, as well as infants who are breastfed are less likely to be overweight in childhood.
Families often wonder about lactations impact on parent weight loss and some studies suggest that lactating beyond 3 months may have more of an impact on parental weight loss than lactating for fewer than 3 months. In general, weight loss of about 1lb/week during lactation is considered safe and usually not associated with slowed infant weight gain.
There are several potential reasons why lactation has this affect on the postpartum body. One is the "reset" hypothesis, where lactation decreases the number of fat cells in the body. Lactation may also help improve the body's management of both glucose and cholesterol and help aid in restoring a normal, heatlhy metabolism.

Happy World Doula Week! Every year March 22-28 we celebrate doulas for all the care and support they provide for pregnan...
03/24/2026

Happy World Doula Week! Every year March 22-28 we celebrate doulas for all the care and support they provide for pregnant and postpartum families.
Studies show that doula care improves breastfeeding success, reduces cesarean rates, supports bonding between baby and parents, and can reduce the risk of developing a postpartum mood disorder.
If you're looking for doula support in the Northeast Ohio area, give us a call and we'll share some recommendations! Is there an excellent doula you recommend? Tag them in the comments below!

As cancer rates have risen in young adults and adults are becoming parents at later ages over the last few decades, ther...
03/17/2026

As cancer rates have risen in young adults and adults are becoming parents at later ages over the last few decades, there has been an overall small but increasing number of individuals who are receiving a cancer diagnosis while pregnant. According to 2023 data, the most common cancer diagnosed in pregnancy was breast cancer (INCIP 2023), followed by blood and cervical cancers. While every cancer and pregnancy journey is different, the general approach to treatment during pregnancy focuses on providing the most effective treatment for the mother while minimizing risks to the fetus. After birth, breastfeeding is possible in many cases. In 2025, two studies were published that looked at the safety of providing breastmilk after breast cancer treatment (Blondeaux et al, JNCI, 2025; Peccatori et al, J Clin Onc, 2025). Breast cancer survivors who breastfed their infants were followed for 7 years after delivery and were not found to have an increased risk of recurrence of cancer or death in this time period. Deciding whether to breastfeed or provide breastmilk is a nuanced and individual decision that includes the desire of the parent to provide breastmilk, the particular medications used in post-pregnancy treatment, the impact of this treatment on the ability to lactate, and the support provided to the cancer patient and family during this time. Mental health and lactation support alongside oncologic care are critical. While chemotherapy can decrease milk supply, usually some amount of breastmilk feeding is possible, either through pumping or direct feeding, but may require timing around chemotherapy cycles or other treatments. Our team at Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio strives to provide compassionate, individualized care to all families, particularly those that may be affected by a pregnancy cancer diagnosis.

The CHILD cohort study is a longitudinal birth cohort study that follows a group of infants from birth into adolescence....
03/09/2026

The CHILD cohort study is a longitudinal birth cohort study that follows a group of infants from birth into adolescence. Previous findings from the CHILD cohort study have identified the role of the microbiome in asthma risk. For example infants with low levels of 4 gut bacteria FLVR (Faecalibacterium, Lachnospira, Veillonella, and Rothia) had a higher risk of asthma at age 3.
A more recent study published in the journal CELL Sept 2025 looked at the nasal and gut microbiomes, breastfeeding characteristics, and maternal milk composition of 2,227 children. They found that weaning from breastfeeding before 3 months of age was associated with higher growth of bacteria linked to the development of asthma.
In general their findings support the understanding that longer breastfeeding helps establish, in a gradual way, the development of the infants microbiome and immune system which is protective against asthma.
Check out details here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11531244/

Our resistome is the antibiotic resistant genes within our microbial community. Multiple factors influence are microbi...
03/09/2026

Our resistome is the antibiotic resistant genes within our microbial community. Multiple factors influence are microbiome and the type of antibioitic resistant genes(ARG's) they carry. In general a microbiome rich in Bifidobacterium is beneifical.
A recent study in the journal Nature Communications looked at what influences the infant resistome by looking at a 66 mother/infant pairs and measuring microbiome and resistome at 7 days, 1, 6 and 12 mos in the infants. In general, the study noted that the infant gut decreased the amount of ARG's over the course of the first year and that in general infants 6 to 12 months of age had lower levels than their mother.
Interestingly, they identified was that while C-section is associated with a higher number of ARG's at 7 days, exclusive breastfeeding for the first month reversed this trend and the authors identified "importance of breastfeeding as a natural intervention to shape the infant microbiome and resistome."
In general the study noted, any amount of human milk during the first 6 months reduces the amount of antibiotic resistant genes and that the most reduction occurred in exclusive breastfeeding infants.
See the July 2025 issue of Nature Communications for the full article at this link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61154-w

faWe often get questions about how to become a breast milk donor. To become a breast milk donor your need to contact you...
03/02/2026

faWe often get questions about how to become a breast milk donor.
To become a breast milk donor your need to contact your local milk bank to participate in the screening process. Typically the process includes a phone screening with milk bank staff to verify eligibility, completion of a medical and lifestyle history review, a signed medical release from the donor and physician, and consent to receive a blood test to screen for HIV, HTLV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and syphilis. The donated milk is pasteurized, frozen, and distributed to hospitals or by physician prescription.
We are fortunate to serve as a drop off site for the OhioHealth Mothers' Milk Bank for screen donors. For more details and links to start the process see: https://bfmedneo.com/Services/Breast-Milk-Drop-Off-Site.
Our practice also has donor breast milk from the OhioHealth Mothers' Milk Bank available for families needing bridge milk in the early postpartum period if there is a delay in the increase of their milk production. https://bfmedneo.com/Services/Pasteurized-Donor-Milk-Dispensary
Feel free to contact us at anytime if questions about either services or visit our website for more details.

Typically milk volume increases about 3 days postpartum. The term delayed lactogenesis is used when the onset of your ...
02/25/2026

Typically milk volume increases about 3 days postpartum. The term delayed lactogenesis is used when the onset of your "milk coming in" or that normal increase in milk production occurs after 3 days.
The reason for this is not always known but we do know some individual experience the delay more frequently including first time breastfeeding parents, those with a history of gestational diabetes, hypertension or thyroid during pregnacy. There is also an increased risk if your infant is < 37 weeks when born and with latching difficulties.
So what can you do? Getting breastfeeding support is one important step, this helps make certain then things we can influence are supported- like helping with the latching, learning how to hand express if your baby is having latching difficulties, and monitoring your infant's weight gain.
For those interested a meta-analysis in the International Breastfeeding Journal provides more details: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11342634/

In Islam, kinship, or establishing a family relationship, can occur if a baby directly suckles from the donating mother’...
02/17/2026

In Islam, kinship, or establishing a family relationship, can occur if a baby directly suckles from the donating mother’s breast (also known traditionally as "wet nursing") and completes at least 5 feedings.
This kinship bond can mean that a non-biological child being given breast milk is considered a direct family relation to any biological infants of this donating mother, becoming a "milk brother" or "milk sister" to each other. Traditionally, Muslims should not marry their "milk siblings."
Muslim families may have questions about the implications of this kinship bond through milk sharing, particularly pasteurized donor human milk that is distributed by the network of nonprofit human milk banks across North America (HMBANA). Medical experts from the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies met with the Minnesota Islamic Council to discuss this question.
Together they published a fatwa, a religious ruling or opinion, that provides guidance on this topic. This fatwa states that in Islam, milk sharing is a virtue. It also states that kinship through the use of pasteurized donor human milk would be very unlikely, because the milk is a mix from several mothers. This effectively prevents establishing the kind of kinship bond described above. These decisions are individual for each family and their religious leaders but this fatwa maybe a helpful reference for some. The fatwa can be found in full at brighterhealthmn.com
Full link here: https://brighterhealthmn.com/islamic-fatwa-for-p-donor-breastmilk-in-the-name-of-allah/ and FAQs and other information about this fatwa and collaboration can be found here: https://www.mnmilkbank.org/resources/fatwa/ #:~:text=The%20fatwa%20says%2C%20%E2%80%9CThe%20benefits,%E2%80%9C

02/09/2026

Prenatal Questions #15: Should I have pain while I am breastfeeding?⁠⁠
No! you should not.⁠⁠
The most common reason for pain in the early postpartum is latching difficulties and there can be other reasons like engorgement, infant tongue tie or torticollis, or infection. If you are having pain, please make an appointment to be seen.⁠⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠

Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening (BABES) Act was signed into law 2016. In November 2025, an Enhancement to ...
02/03/2026

Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening (BABES) Act was signed into law 2016.
In November 2025, an Enhancement to this act was passed to further simplify traveling with breastmilk and associated equipment.
Yet we know that families still face challenges traveling, whether with their infant and/or with appropriate tools to express milk. Please share your stories- successes and challenges in the comments below.
Also, The United States Breastfeeding Coalition is looking for YOUR STORIES to help educate and inform policymakers. Share your infant feeding story at https://www.votervoice.net/USBC/Surveys/7763/Respond

Address

2054 S Green Road
South Euclid, OH
44121

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 3pm
Tuesday 8am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 3pm
Friday 8am - 3pm

Telephone

+12162919210

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Our Story

Dr. Ann Witt is a board-certified family physician with more than a two decades of experience caring for women and children, including both personal and professional experience with breastfeeding. A Cleveland native, Dr. Witt graduated from CWRU School of Medicine and completed additional training in Seattle, WA. Dr. Witt is one of a handful of physicians in Ohio who is IBCLC certified. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.