Breastfeeding Benefits

Breastfeeding offers more than just nourishment. It provides a special closeness that lovingly meets both the nutritional and emotional needs of your baby. It's a learned skill for both of you that requires time and patience, so don't worry if nursing isn't going perfectly right away. 

Your Breast Milk

Breast milk is packed with health benefits and is the ideal first food for your baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months, unless there are specific medical reasons to introduce other foods or liquids. This means no other liquids or foods, including water, sugar water, juice, formula, soups, rice cereal or pureed foods.

Always check with your baby’s healthcare provider about giving vitamins or minerals and when to introduce other liquids and foods.

During pregnancy, your body prepares a special blend of nutrients to meet your baby’s needs. Called colostrum, this early breast milk is the perfect starter food. A yellowish, creamy substance, colostrum is found in the breasts during pregnancy and for a few days after delivery. It provides all the nutrition your baby needs right after birth and offers important protection against bacteria and viruses. It also acts as a natural laxative to help clear meconium, the dark sticky stool made while the baby is in the uterus, from your baby’s intestines.

Your breast milk supply will increase over the first few days after birth. Breast milk is the perfect balance of water and nutrients, containing fats, sugars, proteins, minerals, vitamins, antibodies and enzymes. It promotes brain and body growth and changes to meet your baby’s nutritional needs as they grow.

Breastfeeding also allows you and your baby to bond in a way that bottle feeding cannot match, meeting both nutritional and nurturing needs. 

Benefits of Breastfeeding For Your Baby

• Antibodies from the mother are passed through the milk, giving breastfed babies greater resistance to infections like respiratory viruses. This protection can’t be duplicated by formula.
• Breastfed babies are less likely to develop allergies.
• Breastfeeding enhances the development of oral muscles and facial bones.
• Breastfeeding may decrease the chance of your baby developing ear infections, diabetes, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis later in life.
• Breastfeeding may reduce the risk of childhood obesity.
• Breastfeeding reduces the chance of some childhood cancers, such as lymphomas.
• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
• Breast milk is absorbed quickly and causes less stomach upset, constipation and diarrhea than formula.
• Frequent, close physical contact helps mother and baby bond. 

Benefits of Breastfeeding For You

• Breastfeeding after giving birth causes contractions of the uterus, helping to prevent heavy bleeding. The uterus continues to contract and shrink back to its pre-pregnancy size during the six weeks after birth.
• Breastfeeding is more convenient with nothing to mix, measure, wash or prepare.
• Breastfeeding may help you return to your pre-pregnancy weight sooner, especially if you nurse for six months.
• Breastfeeding reduces the risks of breast and ovarian cancer and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
• Breastfeeding triggers the release of the hormone prolactin, known as the “mothering hormone,” promoting relaxation and well-being.
• Prolactin also promotes deeper sleep, helping you feel more rested in a shorter amount of time.
• It delays the return of menstruation. Talk with your healthcare provider about birth control. 

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Guidelines

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) promotes the following breastfeeding guidelines:

• Breastfeed during the first hour after delivery.
• No supplements (such as water, glucose water, or formula) should be given to breastfeeding newborns unless needed for medical reasons.
• Newborns should be fed whenever they show signs of hunger, such as increased alertness or activity, mouthing or rooting. Crying is a late sign of hunger.
• Feed the baby only breast milk for the first six months to provide ideal nutrition for optimal growth and development.
• A trained observer such as a lactation consultant should evaluate breastfeeding within 24 to 48 hours after delivery and at a follow-up visit 48 to 72 hours after you and your baby leave the hospital.
• Expressing and storing breast milk is encouraged so the baby can receive stored breast milk instead of formula when you and baby are apart.
• Breastfeeding is recommended for the first 12 months of life or longer if you and your baby wish to continue. 

Download our Benefits of Breastfeeding PDF to learn more about why breastfeeding is good for you and your baby.