As chief of pediatrics at Baguio General Hospital, she studied the benefits of breastfeeding over infant formula and reformed the model of care provided to newborns and their mothers.
At the time in the Philippines, newborns were typically removed from their mothers after birth and placed in a nursery where they were fed infant formula.
[1] Attitudes towards formula-feeding were beginning to shift in western medicine, and a boycott was launched against Nestlé in the 1970s and 1980s in favour of breastfeeding.
[2] When Clavano returned to work in Baguio—where she later became head of paediatrics at Baguio General Hospital—she reformed the model of care provided to newborns and their mothers.
[1] Clavano advocated for breastfeeding internationally, and her research work "gave foundation to a global movement" according to Patti Rundall of Baby Milk Action.