Breastfeeding Information

BREASTFEEDING FACTS

1) Mothers who breastfeed infants for 4 months or longer may help protect their children from developing asthma. According to a new study conducted in Australia and reported in the July 2002 issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology researchers found that the risk of childhood asthma increased by 28% if exclusive breast-feeding was stopped and other milk was introduced before the infant was 4 months old.

2) Individual breast pumps and breast pump accessory kits are single-user products. Use by more than one mother may present a health risk.

3) Dr. Hartman, a researcher in Perth, Australia who specializes in human milk production, discovered that the breast does not make all the milk at nursing time, but rather is making milk around the clock. Storage capacity varies and breast size appearance is not always a good predictor of production or storage capacity.

4) Danish and American researchers have found that babies who nurse longer tend to score slightly but significantly higher on IQ exams as adults. The effect is strongest for those who breastfeed for between 7 and 9 months.

5) Exclusive breastfeeding recommended by the AAP and the WHO for the first six months after birth, drops off sharply after only 2 weeks. By 6 months, only 1 in 8 mothers is still exclusively breastfeeding.

6) In a study reported in May 2002 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, scientists at the Institute for the Health of Women and Children in Gothenburg found that babies who are breastfed for 4 months or more are less likely to die from SIDS.

7) In a study reported in June 2002 in the Lancet Medical Journal, researchers found that breastfeeding could reduce a baby’s risk of suffering from childhood obesity by up to 30%.

8) A report in the August issue of Pediatrics shows that healthy infants breast-fed for the first 3 months of life grow faster than their formula-fed peers. There are no differences in weight, length or head circumference between the 2 groups by the time they reach the age of one year.

9) Lactation programs not only benefit the employee, but they can positively impact the employer as well through lower insurance costs, enhanced productivity, higher employee satisfaction and increased retention.

10) A study reported in July 2002 and published in the Lancet Medical Journal found if women in the industrialized world breast-fed each of their children 6 months or longer, they could reduce their chance of breast cancer 5 %, even if they have strong family histories of the disease.

11) In a policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in December 1997, the AAP advised that exclusive breastfeeding is ideal nutrition and sufficient to support optimal growth and development for approximately the first 6 months after birth. Gradual introduction of iron-enriched solid foods in the 2^nd half of the first year should complement the breast milk diet. It recommended breastfeeding be continued for at least 12 months and thereafter for as long as mutually desired.

12) Solid foods do not help young babies sleep through the night. Sleeping through the night is a development milestone for infants. It has nothing to do with how much or what type of food an infant eats. (A Guide to Infant Feeding by Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit)

13) In a study reported in April 2002 in the Journal of Pediatrics, researchers found that breastfeeding may be a natural way for mom to ease the pain of her newborn child. The study showed that breastfeeding virtually eliminated crying and grimacing in infants who were breastfed while undergoing a painful procedure.

14) In a study reported in September 2002 in Pediatrics, Breastfeeding was linked to improved cholesterol levels later in life. It was found that adults who were breastfed as infants have lower total cholesterol (TC) and LDL cholesterol levels than their peers who were formula fed.

15) There is no nutritional indication to feed juice to infants younger than 6 months. The AAP and the American Academy of Pedodontics recommendations state that juice should be offered to infants in a cup, not a bottle, and that infants not be put to bed with a bottle in the mouth. Prolonged exposure of the teeth to the sugars in juice is a major contributing factor to dental caries.