Benefits Of Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is the feeding of babies and young children with milk from a woman's breast. Health professionals recommend that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of a baby's life and continue as often and as much as the baby wants.

Benefits to the child:
- Reduce malnutrition, allergies to the skin, scalp and atopy
- Less infection, less morbidity, less hospitalization.
- Reduce infant death.
- wholesome food for optimal growth and development.
- Create bonding between the child and the mother.
- Intellectual development of the child.
- Helps in the facial development of the child.
- Breast Milk is easily digested.
- Breast Milk is fresh and readily available.
- Reduce dental carries and malocclusion.
- Breast Milk reduce offensive stools.
- Reduce night blindness, inflammatory diseases, asthma, cancers ( lymphomas/ Hodgkins) etc

Benefits to the mother:
- Fulfillment of motherhood.
- Reduce cancer of ovary and breast.
- Easier motherhood and less work.
- Reduce fracture of hip ( Osteoporosis )
- Close loving relationship with child ie bonding.
- Lactational amenorrhea ( Family Planning )
- Reduce post delivery bleeding.

Benefits to the family:
- Food security.
- Saves family funds ie Economical.
- Greater productivity.
- Family love and stability.

Benefits to the community:
- Clean environment and no degradation.
- Healthy children leads to Healthy population.
- Increases household security.
- Happy community and less crime.

Benefits to the government:
- Saves foreign exchange.
- Good health statistics.
- Less crime.