New research published in the journal Pediatrics shows that, if mothers breastfeed their babies for the first six months of life, it can save nearly 1,000 lives and billions of dollars each year. The study states, "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 (WHO), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention all recommend that babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. The WHO goes on to say that breast milk helps babies "to achieve optimal growth, development and health."
Unfortunately, in 2009, the CDC found that 74 percent of women initiated breastfeeding, but only 33 percent were still exclusively breastfeeding at three months and only 14 percent were continuing at six months.
Co-author of the study, Dr. Melissa Bartick, says that "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 and premature deaths could be avoided. The majority of these deaths are from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; Necrotizing Enterocolitis; and lower respiratory infections. And we know from prior studies that breastfeeding reduces the risk of these illnesses.
Researchers calculated $10.56 million for each of the approximately 911 deaths of children; they also included the health care costs and parents' time missed from work. Interestingly, the cost of formula was not included, which is curious as that is a major expenditure.
There are a lot of factors contributing to low breastfeeding rates in the United States, and Bartick says moms shouldn't be blamed, because they receive mixed messages and often lack support from the moment their babies are born.
Bartick believes that the main priority in raising breastfeeding rates in the United States should be to improve maternity care practices. She discusses a 2007 CDC survey of hospitals and birthing centers, all of which were scored to determine how seriously they took breastfeeding recommendations. She states..."U.S. hospitals scored a 63 - that's a D." Bartick believes that one of the many reasons that rates are so low is that hospitals delay immediate skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby, which causes a backward slide from the natural instinct to suckle. In addition, moms also need better breastfeeding education and postpartum breastfeeding support.
Doesn't seem that hard to achieve, does it?
