Breastfeeding

Should I Breastfeed My Baby?

1. GET THE FACTS

Your options

  • Breastfeed
  • Mixed-feed (Breastfeed & sometimes bottle-feed with breast milk or formula)
  • Bottle-feed with formula

Key points to remember

  • Breastfeeding is a personal choice. How you feed your baby is your decision. Your thoughts and feelings about it are an important part of the decision.
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics and most doctors advise breastfeeding for 1 year or longer.
  • Breast milk is the perfect food for your baby. It has almost all the nutrients a baby needs for the first 6 months of life.
  • Babies can also get good nutrition from bottle-feeding with formula.
  • Breast milk helps prevent many illnesses.
  • Breastfeeding helps a woman’s body recover from the stresses of pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
  • Breastfeeding may lower your risks of breast cancer and diabetes later in life.

How do you feel about breastfeeding?

Only you know your own thoughts and feelings about breastfeeding. This is an important part of making this decision.

  • Do you want to breastfeed? With right teaching and support, you can! Before your baby is born, plan ahead and learn all you can about breastfeeding. This helps make it easier.
  • Do you know someone who can teach you about breastfeeding? Breastfeeding is a natural process, but it takes time and practice for you and your baby to do it well. Doctors, nurses, breastfeeding consultants, friends, family, and support groups can help.
  • Are you comfortable with breastfeeding? If you are modest or have concerns about breastfeeding, doctors, nurses, & consultants can show you how to breastfeed in public without showing your breast.
  • Is anyone else trying to convince you one way or the other? Do what is right for you and your baby. Don’t let others make this decision for you.
  • How does your work or school situation affect your decision? Many women are able to provide breast milk even when they are away from their babies. You can get a breast pump and learn to pump your breasts.
  • Is the cost of formula a concern? Formula is expensive. Breastfeeding is free.
  • Are you concerned about your body/breasts changes? In general, breasts return to their pre-pregnancy size when the body returns to its pre-pregnancy weight. Pregnancy, more than breastfeeding, causes most breast changes.

What health problems could affect your decision?

  • If you have active tuberculosis
  • If you are HIV positive
  • If you take street drugs and/or drink a lot of alcohol
  • If you are being treated with chemotherapy

2. COMPARE YOUR OPTIONS

Breastfeeding Formula
What are the benefits?

  • Breast milk is the only food your baby needs until 6 months of age.
  • Breast milk, especially colostrum, contains high amount of immunoglobulin protecting your baby from all sorts of viral, bacterial and fungal infection
  • Breast milk doesn’t cost anything.
  • Breast milk is always ready.
  • Breastfeeding lowers your child’s risk for many illnesses and health problems. These include:
    • Diarrhea and upset stomach.
    • Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
    • Urinary tract infections.
    • Illnesses that affect the respiratory tract or breathing.
    • Infections. Breastfed babies have less chance of going into hospitals because of an infection in the 1st year of life.1
  • Breastfeeding also may protect against other health problems later on, such as:2
    • Diabetes.
    • Obesity.
    • Breast Cancer
  • You may recover from pregnancy, labor, and delivery sooner than you would without breastfeeding. This is because of the hormone oxytocin, which is released during breastfeeding.
 What are the benefits?

  • Formula provides adequate nutrition and includes vitamin D.
  • You may feel better able to work or be away from your baby when you need to.
  • If you take medicine, you don’t have to worry about it getting to your baby.
What is usually involved?

  • If you have to be away from your baby, you can use a breast pump to remove your milk and feed it to your baby later.
  • Sometimes babies & moms need help to breastfeed well. A lactation specialist & support groups can help you and your baby get a good start to breastfeeding.
 What is usually involved?

  • Some women choose to feed their babies with both breast milk & formula. This may lead to “nipple confusion.”
  • Formula needs to be mixed correctly. Bottles and nipples need to be clean for each use.
What are the risks and side effects?

  • Few medicines affect breast milk. If you take any, talk to your doctor.
  • You may experience some concerns like engorgement or mastitis but even in these cases, you can still safely continue to breastfeed.
  • Breastfed babies require Vitamin D supplementation
 What are the risks and side effects?

  • Formula doesn’t protect babies from infections or illnesses.
  • Formula doesn’t help you recover from pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
  • Formula costs a lot & is not friendly to the environment.
  • Formula is time-consuming (washing/sterilizing, etc.)

3. MAKING YOUR DECISION

Your personal feelings are just as important as the medical facts. Think about what matters most to you & your baby in this decision.

Start your help guide to make your decision

 

References

Citations

  1. Talayero JMP, et al. (2006). Full breastfeeding and hospitalization as a result of infections in the first year of life. Pediatrics, 118(1): 92–99.
  2. Victoria CG, et al. (2016). Breastfeeding in the 21st century: Epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect. Lancet, 387(10017): 475–490. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01024-7. Accessed January 16, 2018.
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