Breastfeeding and Health Outcomes for the Mother-Infant Dyad

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Key points

  • Most US women do not meet breastfeeding recommendations; a variety of factors determine likelihood of breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity, including socio-demographic and biologic variables, attitudinal characteristics, and the healthcare environment.

  • Breastfeeding protects child health and development by reducing risk of infection and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) during infancy and by reducing risk of cancers, improving cognitive outcomes, and promoting appropriate

Determinants of breastfeeding duration and exclusivity

Breast milk is recommended as the infant’s sole source of nutrition for the first 6 months of life. It is recommended that complementary foods be added to the infant’s diet at 6 months of age and that breastfeeding continue for one year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant.2 Although women in the United States met the Healthy People 2010 goal for 75% of new mothers to initiate breastfeeding, the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding remain below national goals. Determinants of

How Breast Milk Confers Its Benefits

Breast milk has evolved to provide the best nutrition, immune protection, and regulation of growth, development, and metabolism for the human infant.24 Breast milk is critical in compensating for developmental delays in immune function in the neonate and is responsible for reducing permeability of the intestine to prepare it for extrauterine life.25

The predominant antibody in breast milk, secretory IgA (sIgA), confers its immunoprotection by inhibiting the adherence to or penetration of the

Maternal health outcomes of breastfeeding

The advantages of breastfeeding for mothers are not as well studied as those for infants, but there is adequate evidence to state that women who breastfeed are likely to have improved health in the short-term, and are at lower risk of developing future diseases (Box 2).72

Summary

As this overview makes clear, there is persuasive evidence available to support recommendations by the health authorities2, 3, 88 and to support national goals for breastfeeding duration. These recommendations and goals treat breastfeeding as the optimal way to feed infants during their first year of life, along with the timely addition of complementary foods. Moreover, there is a growing body of evidence that supports breastfeeding as a way to improve a woman’s health after pregnancy because

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