'Nursing is Natural...Naturally Beautiful'

More beautiful images by Christine Santos to normalize and promote breastfeeding in her Nursing is Natural Art Exhibition can be found here. 

How Formula Affects a Baby's Gut

These days we are bombarded by advertising that formula milk is “closer than ever to breast milk”. While many mothers choose to feed their infant formula milk, they may be unaware that scientifically concocted powder is actually not on par with breast milk. This article will outline the differences between the stomach health of breast and formula fed infants, so that mothers can make a more informed choice.

Continue reading...

Scans show early brain growth in breastfed babies

Babies who are breastfed show signs of early brain development, particularly in regions associated with language, emotional function, and cognition. Researchers used specialized, baby-friendly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look at the brain growth in a sample of children under the age of 4 years. By age 2, babies who had been breastfed exclusively for at least three months had enhanced development compared to children who were fed formula exclusively or who were fed a combination of formula and breastmilk.

Continue reading...

The High Cost Of Low Breastfeeding Rates

A new cost analysis of the long-term impacts of breastfeeding found that lower-than-recommended breastfeeding rates among U.S. mothers “may cause as many as 5,000 cases of breast cancer, nearly 54,000 cases of hypertension, and almost 14,000 heart attacks each year.” The study, led by a researcher at Harvard Medical School and published today in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology also found that the economic toll associated with such “sub-optimal” breastfeeding practices reaches into the billions annually.

Continue reading...