Benefits of Breastfeeding
This past January Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin announced the The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding. Due to mounting evidence of breastfeeding’s myriad health benefits she declared its promotion a national priority. Indeed, most people have heard about the passage of immunities from mothers to their breastfed infants, but few parents have been informed that formula-fed babies are at higher risk for developing lower respiratory infections, asthma, atopic dermatitis, obesity, necrotizing enterocolitis, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, childhood leukemia, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In fact, the Surgeon General estimates that if 90% of mothers breastfed exclusively for 6 months, nearly 1,000 deaths among infants could be prevented annually!