PHM-Exch> on breastfeeding

[Claudio Schuftan]

**
* (CNN)* -- If most new moms would breastfeed their babies for the first six
months of life, it would save nearly 1,000 lives and billions of dollars
each year, according to a new study published Monday in the journal
Pediatrics.

The United States incurs $13 billion in excess costs annually and suffers
911 preventable deaths per year because our breastfeeding rates fall far
below medical recommendations.

The World Health Organization says infants should be exclusively breastfed
for the first six months of life "to achieve optimal growth, development and
health."  WHO is not alone in its recommendations.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all agree that breast milk alone
is sufficient for newborns and infants until they are 6 months old.

However, a 2009 breastfeeding report
card<http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/2009BreastfeedingReportCard.pdf>from
the CDC found that only 74 percent of women start breastfeeding, only
33 percent were still exclusively breastfeeding at three months and only 14
percent were still exclusively breastfeeding at six months

The vast majority of extra costs incurred each year could be saved if 80 to
90 percent of women exclusively breastfed for as little as four months and
if 90 percent of women would breastfeed some times until six months. Most of
the excess costs are due to premature deaths. Nearly all, 95 percent of
these deaths, are attributed to three causes: sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS); necrotizing enterocolitis, seen primarily in preterm babies and in
which the lining of the intestinal wall dies; and lower respiratory
infections such as pneumonia.

Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the risk of all of these and seven
other illnesses.

Cost: $10.56 million for each of the estimated 911 children's deaths.
Researchers also included the direct costs of health care and parent's time
missed from work. They did not include the cost of formula, which is another
added cost for moms who don't breastfeed.

There are a lot of factors contributing to low breastfeeding rates in the
United States, and moms shouldn't be blamed, because they receive mixed
messages and often lack support from the moment their babies are born.

The biggest priority should be to improve maternity care practices. Many
hospitals delay immediate urgent skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby,
which can make things harder for the newborn to act on its natural instincts
to suckle

Moms also need to be better educated about the importance of breastfeeding
and they need adequate
support<http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/support/helpline.cfm#b>after
they leave the hospital in case they run into problems because the
newborn isn't properly latching on and therefore not getting enough food.
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