This webinar presented by Rose Marie Straeter discusses the benefits of breastfeeding for both infants and mothers. It highlights how breastmilk is uniquely suited to human infants' nutritional and immunological needs. The presentation reviews evidence that breastfeeding protects against various illnesses and diseases while promoting infant health, growth and development. It also outlines maternal health advantages from reduced cancer risks to assistance with postpartum weight loss. Significant economic savings from lower healthcare costs for breastfed infants are noted. The presentation provides guidance on breastfeeding techniques and managing common concerns in the early days.

1. https://learn.extension.org/events/2526
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family
Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2014-48770-22587 and 2015-48770-24368.
Breastfeeding – Nature’s Best

2. Connecting military family service providers
to research and to each other
through innovative online programming
www.extension.org/militaryfamilies
MFLN Intro
2
Sign up for webinar email notifications at www.extension.org/62831

3. Connecting military family service providers
to research and to each other
through innovative online programming
MFLN Intro
3
Join the Conversation Online!

4. Join the Conversation Online!
MFLN Nutrition @MFLNNW
Military Families Learning Network
MFLN Nutrition and Wellness Group
MFLN Nutrition and Wellness
MFLN Group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8409844
NW SMS icons
4

5. Rose Marie Straeter, MA,
IBCLC, RLC
• Lactation experience includes
private practice, hospital, WIC
(Health Department), and
volunteer organizations.
• Educator and Speaker via
webinars, conferences, hospital
in-services, and trainings.
• Over twenty-five years of
experience working with
breastfeeding mothers and
babies.
Today’s Presenter
5

6. Breastfeeding
- Nature’s Best
Presented by Rose Marie Straeter, MA, RLC,
IBCLC
Photograph credited to Rose Marie Straeter
6

7. Breastfeeding –
What does
that mean for
the mother?
A newborn baby has only three
demands. They are warmth in the arms
of its mother, food from her breasts,
and security in the knowledge of her
presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all
three. ~Grantly Dick-Read
7

8. Infant Benefits
 Protects against infection
 Lowers incidence of diarrhea
 Reduces the risk of SIDS
 Reduces the risk of developing
leukemia
and other childhood cancers
 Lowers the risk of juvenile onset
diabetes
 Enhances vaccine response
 Fewer and less severe respiratory
infections
 Reduces risk of food allergies
 Less risk of Crohn’s disease and
ulcerative colitis
 Visual acuity is higher in breastfed
babies.
 Fewer ear infections 8

9. Infant Advantages
 Nutrition – complete and superior
 Easy to digest
 No constipation
 Less diaper rash
 Jaw, teeth and speech
development
 Taurine – brain growth raises IQ
8-15 points
 Reduces chance of obesity later
in life
 Coats stomach and intestines
and protects against invading
organisms
9

10. Benefits for Premature Baby
 Significantly shortens length of
hospital stay
 Reduces hospital costs
 Hastens brainstem maturation
 Reduces the risk of life-
threatening diseases and other
infectious diseases.
 One-sixth to one-tenth as likely
to develop NEC (Necrotizing
Enterocolitis) adds to hospital
stays at a cost of $2000 a day.
10

11. Maternal Benefits
 Delays fertility
 Reduces risk of breast cancer
 Reduces risk of uterine cancer
 Reduces risk of ovarian cancer
 Reduces risk of cervical cancer
 Decreases insulin requirements
 Decreased osteoporosis
Photograph used with permission no credit
required
11

12. Maternal Advantages
 Decreases bleeding
 Uterus shrinks faster
 Convenient and easy
 Always the right temperature
 Helps mother relax
 Promotes mother-baby bonding
 Assists in weight loss for mother
12

13. What makes Breastmilk
unique?
 Perfect amounts of fatty acids, lactose, water
and amino acids for human digestion, brain
development and growth.
 Cow’s milk contains a different type of protein.
Human infants have difficulty digesting it.
 Human milk can transfer antibodies from
mother to fight diseases. About 80% of cells in
breastmilk are cells that kill bacteria, fungi and
viruses.
 Human milk contains at least 100 ingredients
not found in artificial breast milk.
 Changes to meet the growing needs of the
child.
 Like blood, mother’s milk is a complex living
substance able to protect against a variety of
infections. One drop contains approximately 13

14. Why is breastfeeding best?
One study compared breastfed and
artificially fed babies for the first six
months and the number of visits to
the doctor due to illness (excluding
well baby check-ups)
– 25% made a visit to the doctor due to
illness making between 1 to 5 visits
each
– 97% made a visit to the doctor
making up to 16 visits each. Photograph credited to the Texas Department of
State Health Services.
14

15. Benefits for Father
 Smell – spit up and bowel movements
 Financial
◦ Health care costs
◦ AIM costs
◦ Dental work
 Mother is happier
 Baby is happier
15

16. Societal Benefits
 Improved vaccine effectiveness
 Financial savings to government and
families
◦ Food expense
◦ Medical expenses
◦ More ecological
◦ Less child abuse
16

17. Cost Savings
 A look at health services for lower
respiratory tract illnesses, otitis media,
and gastrointestinal illness in the first
year of life in relation to the duration of
exclusive breastfeeding.
◦ 1000 AIM fed infants had 2033 more office
visits
◦ 212 more days in the hospital
◦ 609 more prescriptions for illnesses than the
1000 infants exclusively breastfed for 3
months.
 The additional health care services
cost between $331 and $475 for each
never-breastfed infant over the first
year of life.
Photograph obtained from iStock.
17

18. Economic Facts
 $2 billion per year is spent by families on breast
milk substitutes.
 $1.3 billion is spent by insurers, including
Medicaid, to cover doctor visits and prescriptions
to treat the three most common illnesses –
respiratory infections, ear infections and diarrhea
in the first year of life for artificially fed infants.
 $3.6 to 7 billion are spent every year on
conditions and diseases that are preventable by
breastfeeding.
Photograph obtained from iStock
18

19. The Statistics are Staggering
 1.5 million infants die each year because
they are not breastfed.
 In areas where water is not safe, bottle
feeding children are 25 times more likely
than breastfed children to die from diarrhea.
 Even in developed countries, breastfeeding
saves babies’ lives and reduces life-long
illness.
 Over 9,000 lives would be saved in the US if
all babies were breastfed.
19

20.  Artificially fed babies get
sicker and are sick more
often
◦ 21:8
 Artificially fed babies are
hospitalized more often
◦ 15:1 in first 4 months
◦ 10:1 for any bacterial
infection
"Use my picture if it will help," said this mother at
the Children's Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Photo: Credit UNICEF
20

21. Recommendations by the
American Academy of
Pediatrics and the World
Health Assembly
Exclusive breastfeeding for six months
and continued breastfeeding till at
least the end of the first year.
21

22. QUESTIONS
22

23. The
Early
Days
23

24. The
Magical
First
Hour
24

25. The
importance
of skin to skin
and an early
initiation of
breastfeeding.
25

26. Breast Crawl
26

27. Laid-Back
Breastfeeding
Photograph purchased from iStock 27

28. Photograph purchased from istock
Laid-Back
Breastfeeding
28

29. Cross Cradle Hold
Photograph credited to the Texas Department of
State Health Services.
29

30. Cradle Hold
30

31. Clutch Hold
31

32. Side Lying
32

33. The importance of
establishing an
adequate milk
supply.
33

34. The importance of
feeding often -
Receptors
34

35. QUESTIONS
35

36. Breastfeeding –
What to Expect
36

37. Interruptions –
Family & Friends
Labor Medications
37

38. The First Days
• Frequent breastfeeding
sessions
• Early hunger signs
• Prevents engorgement
• Helps establish milk
supply
• Getting acquainted 38

39. Milk Supply Checklist
(after first few days)
• 10-12 feedings/24 hours
• 5-6 wet diapers
• Couple bowel
movements per day
• 4-7 ounce weight gain
per week
39

40. Sleepy Babies
40

41. Late Pre-Term Babies
41

42. One bottle
can affect
milk supply
42

43. The impact of
supplementation
on milk supply.
43

44. Is pumping
easier?
44

45. Differences in
Breast Pumps
45

46. Working and
Breastfeeding
46

47. Why do women
perceive their
milk supply is
inadequate?
47

48. quantities controlled by the consumers' needs, the
very announcement of their find would send their
shares rocketing to the top of the stock market. The
scientists who developed the product would win
prizes and the wealth and influence of everyone
involved would increase dramatically. Women have
been producing such a miraculous substance,
breastmilk, since the beginning of human
existence..."
-- Gabrielle Palmer, in The Politics of Breastfeeding,
"If a multinational company
developed a product that was a
nutritionally balanced and
delicious food, a wonder drug
that both prevented and treated
disease, cost almost nothing to
produce and could be delivered
in
48

49. Breastfeeding…
the gift that
lasts a lifetime.
While breastfeeding may not
seem the right choice for every
parent, it is the best choice for
every baby.
~Amy Spangler 49

50. SUPPORT
IS VITAL
to
breastfeeding
success
50

51. QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU!
Q & A Time
Feel free to type your questions into the
Chat Pod!
51

52. What is one significant thing
you learned today?
52

53. Evaluation and CPEUs /
Certificate of Completion
• MFLN Nutrition and Wellness CA is offering 1.0 CPEU
for today’s webinar.
• To receive credits/a certificate of completion, please
complete the evaluation:
https://vte.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_abEatt92sA
AZ5Hv
53

54. Nutrition and Wellness
Upcoming Event
• Nutritional Trends and Implications for
Weight Loss Surgery
• Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2016
• Time: 11:00 am Eastern
• Location:
https://learn.extension.org/events/2550
For more information on MFLN Nutrition and Wellness go to:
https://blogs.extension.org/militaryfamilies/nutrition-and-
wellness/
54

55. www.extension.org/62581
55This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family
Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2014-48770-22587 and 2015-48770-24368.