Breastfeeding VS Bottle-Feeding?

Breastfeeding your child or formula feeding? The below article goes into the negative side of not breastfeeding. For some mothers, they are unable to breastfeed naturally due to a physical reason. Yet, some mothers choose not to breastfeed for other reasons, when they are able to do so.

Health outcomes differ substantially for mothers and infants who formula feed compared with those who breastfeed, even in developed countries such as the United States. A recent meta-analysis by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reviewed this evidence in detail:

• For infants, not being breastfed is associated with an increased incidence of infectious morbidity, including otitis media, gastroenteritis, and pneumonia, as well as elevated risks of childhood obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, leukemia, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

• Among premature infants, not receiving breast milk is associated with an increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

• For mothers, failure to breastfeed is associated with an increased incidence of premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, retained gestational weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and the metabolic syndrome.

Source: Alison Stuebe

Image Source: David Precious