From Barbara Robertson and Nancy Mohrbacher:

Using new research in clinical practice? How do we do this? When is it time to let go of our old ways of doing things and incorporate new information? These are some of the questions Nancy and Barbara discuss in this episode of All Things Breastfeeding. Sometimes, incorporating new research in clinical practice is easy. It can be an “ah-ha” moment. Nancy had this when she learned about Suzanne Colson’s research on releasing babies’ reflexes to stimulate breastfeeding. She knew Suzanne’s description was true and immediately began incorporating Suzanne’s ideas into her practice. Barbara had this type of moment when she read Nancy’s article, “The Magic Number.”

On the other hand, we can also suffer from confirmation bias. We may want to believe that we can use human milk for longer than the current recommendations (see article below), so we are happy when a study suggests this might be true. On the other hand, it can take 17 years or longer for research to become clinical practice. When should we wait? When is it time to change? Some clear guidance both Nancy and Barbara use is: “Will it be harmful?” It does not harm anyone to start playing around with latch and positioning, or adding extra milk removals, for someone struggling with milk supply.

Take a listen to learn more about Nancy’s and Barbara’s thoughts on this subject. Enjoy!

Resources:

Colson SD, Meek JH, Hawdon JM. Optimal positions for the release of primitive neonatal reflexes stimulating breastfeeding. Early Hum Dev. 2008 Jul;84(7):441-9. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2007.12.003. Epub 2008 Feb 19. PMID: 18243594.: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18243594/
Anders, L. A., Mesite Frem, J., & McCoy, T. P. (2025). Flange size matters: A comparative pilot study of the Flange FITSTM guide versus traditional sizing methods. Journal of Human Lactation, 41(1), 54-64. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39614713/
Mohrbacher, N. (2011). The Magic Number and Long-Term Milk Production. Clinical Lactation 2(1), 15-18. https://lactalearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MohrbacherMagicNumber2011.pdf
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 108: Tongue Tie Update: https://lactalearning.com/tongue-tie-update/
Scharff, A. Z., Sedlacek, L., de Oliveira Mekonnen, A., Liolios, I., Ritter, S., Fuchs, F., & Happle, C. (2026). Leftover Infant Milk After Bottle Feeding: Parental Practices and Microbiological Findings. medRxiv, 2026-02. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.13.26346179v1

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