Essay --

All mammalian mothers feed their children breast milk directly from breast to mouth; this act is known as breastfeeding. The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommends early initiation of breastfeeding, within an hour of birth, and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life (Global strategy for infant and young child feeding, WHO 2013). Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as the infant receiving only breast milk without the addition of solid foods or other liquids. The benefits of exclusive breastfeeding are numerous, with the most highly recognized being protection against gastrointestinal infections, which have been shown to be a cause of mortality in infants. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2013 Breastfeeding Report Card, approximately 77% of American children are breastfed at all, 40% are exclusively breastfed at three months old, and 16% by six months. Approximately 50% of mothers continue to breastfeed their children past six months, although the child’s sustenance is supplemented with solid foods and other liquids. Lack of breastfeeding has been linked to malnourishment, which is associated with 45% of child deaths globally (WHO 2013). In 2012, close to 100 million children under the age of five were below the healthy weight-to-height ratio as a consequence of malnutrition due to inadequate feeding and multiple infections. Research has shown that the act of breastfeeding not only provides benefits for the child, but also mothers. According to the federal agency on women’s health, breastfeeding has been associated with reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers, and other women’s health problems. Encouraging women to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of thei... ...initiatives have increased breastfeeding rates from 31% to 51% in a small rural community in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada (Martens, 2000). Increasing educational initiatives to encourage breastfeeding can be further fortified by encouraging the involvement of family and close friends in the decision-making process. The support of family members such as spouses, siblings, and the infant’s grandparents is essential in helping the mother as she decides how the baby will be fed and providing the necessary support once the baby is born. Family members can also serve as mentors to mothers who are considering their infant’s feeding options. The baby’s grandmother, for example, can be a key influence by sharing her breastfeeding experience with her pregnant daughter or daughter-in-law. A mother’s perspective on breastfeeding is greatly influenced by the community around her.