Healthy Kent Breastfeeding Coalition

For Baby

• Natural nutrition at just the right amount to fit your baby’s needs
• Antibodies passed from mom to baby to prevent infection
• Reduced risks of:
  • Asthma
  • Childhood leukemia
  • Childhood obesity
  • Ear infections
  • Eczema
  • Diarrhea and vomiting
  • Lower respiratory infections
  • Necrotizing enterocolitis, a disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract in preterm infants
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
  • Type 2 diabetes
• Increased skin-to-skin contact
• Breast milk is easier for baby to digest than formula, which is made of cow’s milk

For Mom

• It’s FREE!
• Decreased risk of:
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Certain types of breast cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
• The skin-to-skin contact boosts your oxytocin levels. Oxytocin is a hormone that helps breast milk flow and can calm the mother.
• May help with weight loss
• Mothers who breastfeed miss less work to care for sick infants than mothers who feed their infants formula
• Better for the environment- no bottles and formula cans or plastic

Resource: womenshealth.gov