FREE LOCAL BREAST-FEEDING SUPPORT
La Leche League of Utah
La Leche League believes that fellow mothers are the best teachers when it comes to breast-feeding. LLL has monthly meetings across the state. To find a meeting near you, go to www.LLLusa.org/UT/Utah. Also, check out the book The Womanly Art Of Breastfeeding.
Women Infants Children
WIC, a program that provides food for pregnant or nursing women and children, offers lactation consultations and pumping information to women who meet the requirements of the program. For more information, go to www.Health.Utah.gov/wic
BENEFITS OF BREAST-FEEDING
– Nursing protects babies from bronchitis, ear infections, pneumonia, diarrhea and urinary tract infections.
– Breast-feeding reduces risk of childhood or teen obesity, diabetes, allergies, asthma, some childhood cancers, crooked teeth and high blood pressure
– Breast milk contains close to 200 discovered compounds that fight infection, help the immune system, aid in digestion and support brain growth that science cannot emulate,
– If 90 percent of American mothers breast-fed exclusively for 6 months, the country would save $13 billion per year
–Formula supplies to feed one baby for six months can cost almost $1,000
– Formula-fed babies are 80 percent more likely to develop diarrhea and 70 percent more likely to have ear infections
– Babies who are exclusively breast-fed until at least 8 weeks of age grow to be on average 3 IQ points smarter than those who are not breast-fed
– Breast-feeding is good for the mother too. The hormones released decrease risk of depression and help the uterus shrink back to size. Also, breastfeeding lowers the risk of premopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Finally, a breastfeeding mother burns an average of 500 calories per day by just nursing.
Information from www.FitPregnancy.com and www.TheBump.com
A GOOD GOVERNMENT IS LIKE A GOOD BRA
Department of Health supports lactation in National Breast-feeding Awareness Month
This August, the Department of Health and Human Services sponsored National Breast-feeding Awareness month.
“I am committed to promoting and supporting optimal breast-feeding practices with the ultimate goal of improving the public’s health,” said Surgeon General Regina Benjamin in a statement released last month. “This is because breast-feeding is the best source of infant nutrition, and it provides immunologic protection and health benefits both to breast-feeding mothers and to the children they nurse.”
Education is key to breast-feeding success — whether you are a mother, hope to one day become one or as a man wanting to support breast-feeding mothers, take a moment this month to learn of the benefits of breast-feeding.
