Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts (i.e., via lactation) rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. Many specialists recommend mothers exclusively breastfeed for six months or more, without the addition of infant formula or solid food. There are conflicting views about how long exclusive breastfeeding remains beneficial.

After the addition of solid food, mothers are advised to continue breastfeeding for at least a year. The World Health Organization recommends nursing for at least two years or more. Human breast milk is the healthiest form of milk for babies. Breastfeeding promotes health and helps to prevent disease. Experts agree that breastfeeding is beneficial and have concerns about the effects of artificial formulas. Artificial feeding is associated with more deaths from diarrhea in infants in both developing and developed countries. There are few exceptions, such as when the mother is taking certain drugs or is infected with human T-lymphotropic virus, or has active untreated tuberculosis. In developed countries with access to infant formula and clean drinking water, maternal HIV infection is an absolute contraindication to breastfeeding (regardless of maternal HIV viral load or antiretroviral treatment) due to the risk for mother-to-child HIV transmission.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) emphasize the value of breastfeeding for mothers as well as children. Both recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. The AAP recommends that this be followed by supplemented breastfeeding for at least one year, while WHO recommends that supplemented breastfeeding continue two years or more. While recognizing the superiority of breastfeeding, regulating authorities also work to minimize the risks of artificial feeding.