Breastfeeding good for both the baby and the mother

It's well known that breastfeeding benefits both the infant and the mother.

Stuebe A of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC published a review article in the Fall 2009 issue of Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology re-emphasizing the importance of breastfeeding.

Stuebe pointed out that the health outcomes for the infants who were formula fed differ substantially from those who were breastfed.

Infants not being breastfeed were at higher risk for infectious morbidity, childhood obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, leukemia, and sudden infant death syndrome among others.

Mothers who did not breastfeed her baby are at higher risk for premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, retained gestational weight gain, type 2 diabetes, myocardial infarction, and the metabolic syndrome.

The author said that obstetricians are in a position to counsel mothers about the benefits of breastfeeding and make sure that mothers and infants receive the best care starting at birth.

By David Liu