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There is a considerable amount of evidence for the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby. For this reason, the Government has given local health services a target to increase breast feeding rates each year.
Fear of how they will be treated when they breastfeed away from home is a major reason women give for not breastfeeding.
Ten Good Reasons to support Breastfeeding...
1. Breast milk is the perfect food: it provides everything a baby needs, in the quantities it needs it, for the first six months of its life.
2. It's the healthiest option for a baby: a baby has a lower risk of gastro-enteritis, respiratory, urinary tract and ear infections, eczema and childhood diabetes
3. It's the healthiest option for the mother: women who breastfeed have a lower risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancer
4. It's convenient: it's always available and instantly at the right temperature
5. It's free: in fact it saves each family an estimated £450 across a year
6. It saves the nation money: it's estimated that the NHS spends at least £35 million a year treating gastro-enteritis in bottle-fed babies in England
7. Breastfed babies have higher IQs: a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that breastfed infants tested 5.2 IQ points higher than bottle-fed infants
8. Breastfed babies are less likely to be obese as adults
9. It's more environmentally friendly: breast milk is produced and delivered to the consumer without any pollution, unnecessary packaging or waste.
10. Women who breastfeed regain their figures sooner than women who bottle feed: when a woman is making breast milk she burns about 500 extra calories a day.
Where to find out more
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