Study: Lack of breastfeeding costs lives, billions of dollars

[alienlovechild 75]

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 report said.

The World Health Organization says infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life "to achieve optimal growth, development and health." The 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 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.

Dr. Melissa Bartick, one of the new study's co-authors, says 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." Bartick is a hospitalist -- a doctor who specializes in the care of hospitalized patients -- at Cambridge Health Alliance, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and a mother of two.

Bartick and her co-author Arnold Reinhold found that 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 studied by the study authors.

Bartick calculates $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 Bartick says moms shouldn't be blamed, because they receive mixed messages and often lack support from the moment their babies are born.

She says the biggest priority should be to improve maternity care practices. Bartick refers to a 2007 CDC survey of hospitals and birthing centers, which scored each facility to determine how well it complied with recommendations meant to encourage women to breastfeed.

According to that survey, Bartick says, "U.S. hospitals scored a 63 - that's a D."

Bartick says 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.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/05/breastfeeding.costs/?hpt=T2

[one...two...tree 2,762]

You should read about how Nestle Co. marketed its baby formula to many nursing mothers in Third World countries.

[Calypso 464]

I have never seen any infant formula since I arrived in the U.S. but in the Philippines, all cans write: Breast milk is still best for babies up to two years.

In college, the same topic came up over and over again-- that we should breastfeed our babies once we have them. Colostrum is very important because it has the right nutrients and antibodies for newborn infants. I once asked about how breastfeeding would be for someone with an inverted nipple. Our instructor said that the husband may help. Poor answer.

[Peikko 1,575]

I don't understand how anyone believes breastfeeding is hard. It's not at all difficult. I know there are incidents of mothers who can't breastfeed but the incidence for truly not being able to is remarkably low. As has been said, a lot of incredibly manipulative marketing has gone on and what's brilliant is this notion that we as individuals are in the best position to make a 'choice' about such matters. Clearly evidence is growing that most individuals are not. Race horses are better fed than most humans in the US, heck race cars are better fed!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

+1's all around.

[Peikko 1,575]

+1's all around.

You want to be a wetnurse? Or are you simply agreeing that breast is best

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I have never seen any infant formula since I arrived in the U.S. but in the Philippines, all cans write: Breast milk is still best for babies up to two years.

In college, the same topic came up over and over again-- that we should breastfeed our babies once we have them. Colostrum is very important because it has the right nutrients and antibodies for newborn infants. I once asked about how breastfeeding would be for someone with an inverted nipple. Our instructor said that the husband may help. Poor answer.

Laleche is a great source for info. There are also nurses that help new mothers with learning how to breastfeed.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Galt's gallstones

[Peikko 1,575]

I am sure we should be able to scare up a few breast pictures to keep things rolling along...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

You want to be a wetnurse? Or are you simply agreeing that breast is best

Just concurring that nature can't be wrong. Oh and Nestle can be.

[Jenn! 918]

14% exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months is unbelievably low. Shifting attitudes takes a while. The article is correct that new moms often don't get the support they need. One big factor IMO tends to be grandmothers who sometimes (subconsciously?) sabotage breastfeeding efforts by taking their daughter's choice to breastfeed as an attack against their own choices as a mother. "Well, you were formula-fed and you turned out just fine.", etc.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I'm not a woman so I can't account for how bothersome it might be.

I will say that story about the 8-year old still breastfeeding made me

[Darnell 8,478]

I am supporter of breastfeeding with the subsequent health benefits for both baby and mom.

I know it's OT, but why in the world would one choose to denigrate this topic?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

14% exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months is unbelievably low. Shifting attitudes takes a while. The article is correct that new moms often don't get the support they need. One big factor IMO tends to be grandmothers who sometimes (subconsciously?) sabotage breastfeeding efforts by taking their daughter's choice to breastfeed as an attack against their own choices as a mother. "Well, you were formula-fed and you turned out just fine.", etc.

Big Pharma's propaganda machine has been well in place here in the US for many generations.

[Darnell 8,478]

You should read about how Nestle Co. marketed its baby formula to many nursing mothers in Third World countries.

I have. It's abysmal.

[Calypso 464]

Laleche is a great source for info. There are also nurses that help new mothers with learning how to breastfeed.

True inverted or flat nipples also will not become erect when stimulated or cold. If your nipples protrude when stimulated as described above, they are not truly inverted and do not need any special treatment in order to breastfeed.

http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/invertednipples.html