What No One Tells You About Breastfeeding

Nursing may be natural, but it's also DOWNRIGHT DIFFICULT. While 83 percent of mothers breastfeed soon after birth, only 57 percent are still nursing six months later, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That's a surprisingly low number considering that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for about six months. The benefits of breastfeeding range from prevention of childhood obesity to decreased risk of infection, SIDS, and allergies.

If you decide to give breastfeeding a try, rest assured that with a little bit of patience, some smart planning, and a firm resolution, you have increased chance of success. 

Breastfeeding Tidbits

• Breastfeeding is potentially one of the top nutrition interventions for reducing under-five mortality.

• If breastfeeding were scaled up to near universal levels, about 820,000 child lives would be saved every year. 

• Globally, only 40% of infants under six months of age are exclusively breastfed. 

• In low- and middle-income countries, just 4%, or 1 in 25 babies, are never breastfed. In high-income countries, 21% of babies, or more than 1 in 5, never receive breast milk. 

• Of the high-income countries, Ireland ranked lowest with only 55% of babies ever being breastfed, followed by France with 63% and the US with 74%.

• Mothers who breastfeed have a lower risk of developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, and postpartum depression. And, the longer a woman breastfeeds in her lifetime, the more protection she receives.

• Your brain releases the hormones prolactin and oxytocin during breastfeeding, which help you to bond with baby and ease those normal feelings of stress and anxiety.