Q: If a mother is suffering from malaria fever, can she be allowed to breastfeed her child? Upto what age of a child a noraml mother without any ailment should give breastfeeds to the child? If only one breast is chosen by the child and always one selected breast is given for feeding, will it cause any serious ill effects later?

A:During malaria, a mother can give breast feeds to the child if she is not very sick and is physically fit. The mother should normally breastfeed her child for atleast one year but she can feed upto 2 years of childs age. Preferably, she should try to feed from both the breasts, if she is offering only one breast for feeds, she may develop engorgement in that breast which can cause discomfort to the mother and also gradually milk production in that breast will stop. Otherwise it is not likey to have any long term effects.