Cecilia Tomori, PhD

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Cecília Tomori is an anthropologist and public health scholar whose work addresses health inequities through teaching, research, and active engagement in global and community health. Her research investigates the structural and sociocultural drivers that shape patterns of health and illness, with a focus on maternal and child health as well as sexual and reproductive health. This work centers on deep engagement with the lived experiences of local and global communities. Dr. Tomori has collaborated with colleagues at Johns Hopkins and beyond on breastfeeding, infant sleep, and infectious disease prevention. She has authored three books on breastfeeding and reproduction, and numerous publications on a range of public health issues in journals including Social Science and Medicine, Maternal Child Nutrition, AIDS and Behavior, Archives of Sexual Behavior, and BMC Public Health.

Read her work on Kindred.

"The costs of undermining breastfeeding are enormous. Globally, over 823,000 child deaths could be prevented annually with appropriate breastfeeding. Additionally, 20,000 maternal deaths could be averted each year worldwide from breast cancer. Poor communities of color around the world disproportionately shoulder this harm."  – New Technologies Claiming To Copy Human Milk Reuse Old Marketing Tactics To Sell Baby Formula And Undermine Breastfeeding, by Cecilia Tomori, PhD

REPORT: WHO Reveals Shocking Extent Of Exploitative Formula Milk Marketing. The second report in a series detailing exploitative marketing practices employed by US$ 55 billion baby formula industry, shows parents, particularly mothers, are being insidiously and persistently targeted online.

FILM: TIGERS – A New Film & True Story Of Pakistani Infant Formula Whistleblower

This is the IBFAN Statement in response to COP26: The Baby Food Industry’s Destruction Of An Irreplaceable Natural Resource: A Form Of Ecocide?  Most transnational food and baby food companies are complicit in the climate emergency through the promotion of food systems that undermine bio-diversity and traditional food cultures and lead to deforestation, mono-cropping, land and sea-grabbing and the promotion of a host of risky technologies. Meanwhile they will be continuing to push for the unrestricted global trade of totally unnecessary, denatured,  ultra-processed, plastic-wrapped, flavoured, additive laden and sweetened drinks for older babies at the forthcoming UN Codex meeting later this month.[xiv] WHO policy is clear that the promotion of these products (that look deceptively like formulas for newborn babies), is a violation of the Code because it confuses parents and undermines breastfeeding that is a lifeline – especially where  the majority of children are breastfed in the 2nd year of life.

Kindred Breastfeeding Articles, Podcasts and Videos

National Breastfeeding Organizations

Kindred articles on Paid Parental Leave and Paid Family Leave

Kindred articles and videos on Worksite Breastfeeding-Friendly Law

Kindred’s Equity-Diversity-Inclusion Resources

Kindred’s Black Mothers and Fathers Resources

Milk – The Food That Helped Evolve Humanity, A TEDx Talk by Laurel Wilson

Saving Tomorrow Today: An African American Breastfeeding Blueprint

Breastfeeding Posts on Kindred by Darcia Narvaez, PhD

Breastfeeding In The USA—A Little History, Part 1 Of 2

Breastfeeding’s Importance—What Science Tells Us, Part 2 Of 2

Safe Infant Sleep And Breastfeeding Are Partners

Breastfeeding Moms Face Illegal Discrimination At Work

What Do You Know About Breastfeeding? 

Breastfeeding As Companionship: An Ancient Tradition 

The Myth Of “Breastfeeding Is Optional” 

Breast Milk Keeps Time And May Set Baby’s Clock 

New Book, Unlatched, Explores Whether Breastfeeding Is Vital 

• Breastfeeding Reduces Child Abuse/Neglect VIDEO
• Answering the Critics: Breastmilk Separate of Breastfeeding Does Not Produce the Same Results VIDEO and Article
• Why Sleep Training Is Bad for Moms and Babies: Breastfeeding Moms Get More and Better Sleep VIDEO and Article
• New Research Shows Breastfeeding’s Healing Impact on Sexual Assault Trauma VIDEO and Article
• How Breastfeeding Supports Maternal Mental Health VIDEO and How Other Cultures Support Moms Postpartum Article