Recent Study: Lack of Breastfeeding Costs Lives and Billions of Dollars

Pregnant women or those who are thinking about becoming pregnant now have new motivation to choose to breastfeed their baby once he or she is born. A new study was published by the Pediatrics journal that has determined if moms would choose to breastfeed their new babies for the even just the first six months of their lives they could save billions of dollars and more importantly close to a thousand lives.

The WHO or World Health Organization as it is better known, has recommended that new moms exclusively nurse their babies for the first six months so that they may "achieve optimal growth, development and health". They are not alone in this opinion. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also agree that nursing a baby for the first six months is giving them all the nutrients they need.

When it comes to determining the new published study, the billions of dollars they are referring to that would be saved include money that is spent on health-care, time that parents miss from work as well as over $10 million dollars per death that is estimated. This amount did not even include the cost of infant formula. There is an estimated 911 deaths they believe could help be prevented if new moms had chosen to breastfeed. These deaths are caused by conditions such as SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, respiratory infections such as pneumonia and necrotizing enterocolitis, a condition where the intestinal wall lining dies. Risks for all of these conditions can be reduced by breastfeeding.

However, even with new studies such as this, there is still a low breast-feeding rate in the United States. Many attribute this low rate to fact that new moms do not receive much encouragement to breastfeed. U.S. hospitals only scored a 63 which is the equivalent to a D. New moms also do not educated enough on all the different techniques they can try to help make breastfeeding go smoother. They often get frustrated when they find they cannot get the baby to latch on correctly. They may also feel pressure from family members or friends who suggest they just "formula feed" instead.

As a mom who has chosen to breastfeed all four of my sons I can vouch that not only does it promote good physical health for the new baby but it also helps promote good emotional health for the new baby and mom as they form a close bond.

Source Cited: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/05/breastfeeding.costs/index.html?hpt=T2