EAT FOR HEALTH Australian Dietary Guidelines

ENCOuRAGE, SuPPORT AND PROMOTE BREASTFEEDING

87

Guideline 4

GUIDElInE 4

Encourage, support and promote breastfeeding

Guideline 4

Encourage, support and promote breastfeeding.

Summary

•   The World Health Organization states that ‘breastfeeding is an unequalled way of

providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants’.^871

•   Breast milk contains many unique compounds, including live cells, which provide all

the nutritional requirements to support growth and development of infants to around

6 months of age.

•   Breastfeeding provides health benefits to infants including reduced risk of infection,

asthma and atopic disease and sudden infant death syndrome. It contributes to

improved cognitive development and protects against obesity, hypertension and some

chronic diseases in later life.

•   Benefits to mothers from breastfeeding include improved bonding with their infant,

accelerated recovery from childbirth and progress towards a healthy body weight.

Breastfeeding is also associated with reduced risk of some cancers.

•   Infants should be exclusively breastfed until around 6 months of age when solid foods

are introduced. Breastfeeding should be continued while solid foods are introduced until

12 months of age and beyond, for as long as the mother and child desire.

•   Breastfeeding outcomes (including initiation rates and duration) are improved where the

mother has support and encouragement from the infant’s father, other family members,

health workers, the hospital and the community.

This chapter provides information on why breastfeeding is beneficial to the health of

the infant and the mother, plus practical considerations for encouraging, supporting and

promoting breastfeeding.