Education

Get ready! Breastfeeding is new skill for you and your baby to master. Take a class before your baby is born or do your own research to get ready for the big day. Be sure to tell your friends and family that you are planning to breastfeed and you would appreciate their support. Talk to your doctor and the nurses when you check in to the hospital to deliver, make sure everyone knows you plan to breastfeed. Put your baby to your breast as soon as possible, preferably within the first hour after birth. Stick with it, get help from your lactation consultant, join a breastfeeding support group or a Le Leche League group in your area.

There are many benefits to breastfeeding your baby! Human milk provides the specific nutrients that babies need to grow, both in size and maturity. Your milk is made to order for your baby, it contains antibodies in it to protect the baby from illness. Your baby will be healthier with a decreased likelihood for allergies, asthma, diabetes and dental caries. Breastfed babies also benefit from appropriate jaw, teeth and speech development as well as overall facial development. Breastfeeding is great for mom too, as you are less likely to develop breast and ovarian cancer. Breastfeeding is environmentally friendly-breast milk is delivered without excess packaging or processing and thus contributes to the health of our planet.

Continue on to our Benefits page to learn more!

When you choose to breastfeed, you become part of a global community. You have something in common with moms on every continent and moms throughout history. There are few things we do today that moms were doing 200 years ago. Our lives have changed in so many ways, but breastfeeding remains the gold standard in infant nutrition.

Continue on to our Advocate page to learn more!