Benefits and Facts
Health Benefits for Mothers:
• Releases prolactin and oxytocin to promote love, attachment, nurturing and a
peaceful sensation to help focus on your baby.
• In mothers, breastfeeding significantly reduces physiological and subjective stress, facilitates
positive affect, and improves maternal sensitivity and care
• Recover from childbirth by releasing oxytocin that acts to return the uterus to its
regular size.
• Reduces postpartum bleeding that can prevent hemorrhaging.
• By breastfeeding a mother reduces her chances of developing rheumatoid arthritis
• Breastfeeding can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease including high blood
pressure and high cholesterol.
• Reduces the chances of breast and ovarian cancer later in life.
• Women who breast can reduce their chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
• By exclusively breastfeeding a mother may delay the return of her menstrual period.
This can space pregnancies and provide a natural form of contraception while the
baby is less than 6 months of age.
• Breastfeeding can help mothers with postpartum depression, although a close
monitoring with her doctor is still necessary.
• Breastfeeding creates a unique, powerful, and unimaginable emotional connection
between mothers and their babies.
• Breastfeeding significantly reduces psychological and subjective stress and improves
maternal care.
• By breastfeeding a mother can assist in her weight loss after her pregnancy
Health Benefits for Baby:
• A baby that is breastfed can have a reduced risk of asthma, respiratory disease, and allergies.
• By breastfeeding a baby can lower the risk of type 1 diabetes later in life
• Ear infections (acute otitis media) can be reduced by breastfeeding.
• A baby that is breastfed can have a reduced risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Gastrointestinal infections such as diarrhea and vomiting can be reduced by breastfeeding.
• Fewer cases of bacterial meningitis
• Better vision and less retinopathy of prematurity
• Lower rates of infant mortality
• Less illness overall and less hospitalization
• Fewer instances of Crohn’s disease and colitis
• Fewer speech and orthodontic problems
• Fewer cavities
• Less likelihood of becoming obesity in childhood
• Improved brain maturation
• Greater immunity to infections
• Breastfeeding improves vaccine effectiveness
• Fewer cold and respiratory issues such as pneumonia and respiratory syncytial virus, RSV and whooping cough
Benefits to Dads:
• Fathers may experience pride and confidence, knowing
he has contributed to supporting the health of his
newborn baby and his partner.
• Many fathers are financial providers and breastfeeding
can help with the financial burden of a family
Benefits of Breastfeeding in the Workplace and to Society:
• Employees miss work less often because breastfed babies are less sick
• Breastfed lowers health care cost
• When mothers have employers who support their decision to breastfeed
they are more likely to be productive
• Breastfeeding lowers the overall cost of healthcare
• Breastfeeding is better for the environment because formula cans, plastics,
paper, advertising, metal, glass, fuel and pollution all create waste on the
earth when it is made, discarded, and distributed.
• Clean water is scarce and vital to making infant formula, breastfeeding is
always ready, sterile, and warm for your baby
