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“Women live longer, they experience different things like pregnancy and lactation, menstruation and menopause, and they have different disease risks,” said Dr. McKale Montgomery, a nutritionist at Oklahoma State University.

However, the pandemic also presented significant barriers, including limited access to lactation support and heightened maternal stress.

Of bigger concern is the outstanding question of whether infected cows will rebound in their next lactation cycle — after they’ve had time to “dry out” and heal.

Lizzie Reeves is a clinical midwife and a specialist in lactation at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.

She says it’s vital that women get expert lactation advice and breastfeeding support as early as possible.