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Babies are recommended to have human milk and families should have more support, guidance says
By Madeline Holcombe, CNN
Updated 2:48 PM EDT, Mon July 18, 2022
(CNN)Families who breastfeed their children need support, according to guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and that requires social and systemic changes when it comes to workplace access and feeding stigma.
The paediatricians association's most recent guidance stressed the recommendation that infants be fed exclusively with human milk for the first six months of life before other nutritious foods are introduced.
"Human milk is all a baby needs for the first six months of life," said Dr. Joan Younger Meek, lead author of the reports, written by the AAP section on breastfeeding. "Breast milk is unique in its nutrients and protective effects, and really quite remarkable when you look at what it does for a child's developing immune system." Meek is professor emeritus of clinical sciences at Florida State University College of Medicine.
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Research suggests the benefits of feeding human milk include decreased rates of lower respiratory tract infections, severe diarrhoea, ear infections and obesity. Babies given breast milk also have a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome, according to the AAP.
But not everyone can nourish their babies using exclusively human milk, the organization acknowledged.
Some parents may have trouble producing enough milk or having their infant latch properly, or the parent may not lactate at all, said Dr. Jason Jackson, a neonatologist at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Their workplace or societal stigmas may make it impossible to breastfeed, Meeks said.
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In all cases, it's the job of health care providers to give the best evidence-based information, while also addressing the individual needs of each family.
"Families deserve nonjudgmental support, information and help to guide them in feeding their infant," Meeks said.
Structural and policy changes can bolster much of that support, the guidance said.
Breastfeeding is already a medical norm, and community leaders and health care providers need to work together to make it a societal norm, Jackson said.
The AAP recommends breastfeeding for at least the first six months of life, but the organization acknowledged that doesn't always work for all families.
Medical support and workplace protection
Families should get the support they need from medical professionals and protection against workplace barriers when choosing to feed their infants human milk for at least the first six months -- and even up to two years, the AAP said.
The unfortunate reality is that there is stigma around breastfeeding, Jackson said.
Western society considered formula feeding a luxury because a parent didn't need to be at home to feed the infant, but could hire someone else, he said.
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This cultural perception became a major factor in much of the world not being set up to support families who want to breastfeed.
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