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Breastfeeding Advantages

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Submitted By ashtobin2001
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Breastfeeding Basics: A Guide to the Advantages of Breastfeeding Breastfeeding in our culture has become social devastation – it is almost viewed as unacceptable in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 14% of infants born in recent years were breastfed exclusively for at least six months (“Breastfeeding Among U.S. Children”). That means that 86% are being fed with formula. Formula cannot provide infants with the antibodies and nutrients that they need. These numbers are alarming. Breast milk is a living substance that contains millions of antibodies used to help build an infant’s immunity. It changes constantly to meet the needs of a growing baby and contains ingredients not found in regular dairy milk, or formula for that matter. Mothers have been breastfeeding their babies since the beginning of time, and the fact that we have come up with an alternate method defies what is natural. The main reasons mothers are formula feeding are due to the social pressures of American culture and the freedom formula feeding offers. Americans live in such a fast-paced society, that it is hard for a mom to take the time to breastfeed, especially among those in the workforce. While formula feeding may the liberties that breastfeeding cannot, research and studies reveal that breastfeeding is the healthier alternative. Resulting research proves very shocking evidence in favor of breastfeeding. When a mother knows the benefits and is able and willing to breastfeed, it is hard to understand the reasons that she would ever even consider formula feeding her infant. The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous and studies and new findings are being discovered everyday. The infants being raised today are the men and women who will lead this country in the future and it is only best to give them the healthiest start. Bonding is the

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