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Breastfeeding Research Paper

The benefits of breastfeeding to both the mother and the infant are many. However, as
Rollins et al. (2016) note, the recommended exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of
an infant is no longer the norm in many communities as a result of various barriers to
breastfeeding. The result is that many mothers fail to breastfeed their children adequately thus
denying themselves and their children the valuable benefits of breastfeeding. For breastfeeding
levels to increase, it is important to effectively address challenges that prevent many mothers
from breastfeeding their children for the recommended duration. This paper examines benefits
of breastfeeding, barriers to the practice, and what can be done to overcome the barriers.

Barriers to Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding has many benefits for infants and mothers. According to Victora et al.
(2016), breastfeeding increases intelligence of children and offers them protection against
many infections. It has also been associated with reducing possibility of children developing
diabetes or obesity. This view is supported by Binns, Lee, & Low (2016) who found that in
addition to enhancing cognitive development of children, breastfeeding also offers long-term
protection to children against chronic diseases. These diseases include cardiovascular diseases,
hypertension, obesity, and both type 1 and 2 diabetes (Binns, Lee, & Low, 2016).
Breastfeeding, therefore, plays an important role in the health of a child.
According to Oddy (2017), these benefits of breastfeeding are due to the contents of
breast milk. The human milk has many immunological contents which provide infants with
protection against various allergic diseases and infections (Oddy, 2017). The milk’s bioactivity
and nutritional content also promotes an infant’s healthy development (Oddy, 2017). Such are
the benefits of breastfeeding to children that Victora et al. (2016) estimates that 823,000

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annual deaths of children below five years old would be prevented if breastfeeding rates
increased to near universal levels. Breastfeeding, therefore, is key to reducing hundreds of
thousands of infant deaths.
It is not just infants that benefit from breastfeeding; mothers too do. According to
Victora et al. (2016), breastfeeding offers nursing women and mothers protection against
various diseases and health conditions. They include protection against type 2 diabetes and
ovarian cancer (Victora et al., 2016). Breastfeeding also allows mothers, particularly in poor
countries, to space their children in an effective manner (Victora et al., 2016). The practice
also helps mothers to establish long-term bond with their children (Victora et al., 2016). The
benefits of breastfeeding to mothers are, therefore, just as many and as important to those that
children get.

Barriers to Breastfeeding

Despite overwhelming evidence supporting breastfeeding to both mothers and
children, not many mothers breastfeed their children adequately. The American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that mothers exclusively breastfeed their
children for the first six months of their life (Breastfeeding Expert Work Group, 2016). After
the first six months, they should continue breastfeeding but begin introducing complementary
foods for the infant. This can go on for a year or longer. Unfortunately, few mothers follow
these recommendations. Breastfeeding Expert Work Group (2016) found out that more than
half of American mothers wean earlier than recommended for various reasons. Thus, the
children and their mothers end up not enjoying the full benefits of breastfeeding.
There are many barriers that keep women from adequately breastfeeding their children
or weaning earlier than recommended. According to Anstey et al. (2017), these factors include

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poor social and family support, lack of breastfeeding knowledge, having work environments
that are not supportive to breastfeeding, and unsupportive social and cultural norms.
These barriers, however, do not affect all women equally. Although overall
breastfeeding rates have been increasing in recent years, there still remain major racial
disparities in breastfeeding durations (Anstey et al., 2017). In particular, black infants continue
to have much lower breastfeeding rates when compared to other racial groups (Anstey et al.,
2017). According to Anstey et al. (2017), the reason why black women breastfeed their
children less than other racial groups is because the barriers examined above
disproportionately affect black. For instance, black women are more likely to have insufficient
breastfeeding information, lack breastfeeding support from professionals, and have to return
earlier to work after having a child (Anstey et al., 2017). As a result of inadequate
breastfeeding, blacks tend to experience higher levels of disease burden associated with
suboptimal breastfeeding (Bartrick et al., 2017). For instance, black women are 3.3 times more
likely to have necrotizing enterocolitis than white women (Bartrick et al., 2017). Thus,
addressing barriers to breastfeeding will go a long way in reducing racial disparities in
healthcare outcomes of children and their mothers.
Another major barrier to breastfeeding is increasing supply of breastfeeding
substitutes. The sales of these substitutes amount to $44.86 billion in worldwide in 2014
(Rollins et al., 2016). Aggressive marketing of these products has led to their widespread use
among mothers, especially from affluent countries. As long as these substitute products
continue being advertised as being just as good as a mother’s breast milk, many women are
going to use them instead of breastfeeding their children.
Reducing Barriers to Breastfeeding

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For breastfeeding to have near universal levels, it is important to address the barriers
that prevent many women from adequately breastfeeding their children. According to Rollins
et al. (2016), addressing the barriers to breastfeeding should be done using policy and legal
directives to help improve employment conditions of women, such as improving levels of
work flexibility for mothers. The legal and policy directives should also seek to change values
and social attitudes that are unsupportive to breastfeeding, and enhance healthcare services
that support better breastfeeding of women. These interventions, when delivered in an
appropriate manner have the ability to significantly improve breastfeeding levels.
One policy initiative that has been recommended as a strategy of increasing
breastfeeding levels is paid family leave. According to Pac et al. (2019), paid family leave
increases the likelihood of mothers breastfeeding their infants for more than six months. It also
increases the duration of breastfeeding. Giving women longer maternal leave has also been
found to increase levels of breastfeeding (Anstey et al., 2017). Additionally, breastfeeding
levels can be increased through conducting of educational programs to educate mothers about
the value of breastfeeding to themselves and to their infants (Anstey et al., 2017).

Conclusion

There are many benefits that infants and mothers get through breastfeeding. These
benefits are not just limited to their health. They extend to physical and cognitive development
among children and emotional and psychological benefits among mothers. Many mothers and
children, however, fail to get these benefits because of various barriers breastfeeding.
Overcoming these barriers through policy and legal initiatives will significantly increase levels
of breastfeeding.

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References

Anstey, E. H., Chen, J., Elam-Evans, L. D., & Perrine, C. G. (2017). Racial and geographic
differences in breastfeeding—United States, 2011–2015. MMWR. Morbidity and
mortality weekly report, 66(27), 723.
Bartick, M. C., Jegier, B. J., Green, B. D., Schwarz, E. B., Reinhold, A. G., & Stuebe, A. M.
(2017). Disparities in breastfeeding: impact on maternal and child health outcomes and
costs. The Journal of Pediatrics, 181, 49-55.
Binns, C., Lee, M., & Low, W. Y. (2016). The long-term public health benefits of
breastfeeding. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 28(1), 7-14.
Breastfeeding Expert Work Group (2016). “Committee Opinion No. 658: optimizing support for
breastfeeding as part of obstetric practice”. American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, & Committee on Obstetric Practice.  Obstetrics and gynecology, 127(2),
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Oddy, W. H. (2017). Breastfeeding, childhood asthma, and allergic disease. Annals of Nutrition
and Metabolism, 70(Suppl. 2), 26-36.
Pac, J. E., Bartel, A. P., Ruhm, C. J., & Waldfogel, J. (2019). Paid family leave and
breastfeeding: Evidence from California (No. w25784). National Bureau of Economic
Research.
Rollins, N. C., Bhandari, N., Hajeebhoy, N., Horton, S., Lutter, C. K., Martines, J. C., … &
Group, T. L. B. S. (2016). Why invest, and what it will take to improve breastfeeding
practices?. The Lancet, 387(10017), 491-504.

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Victora, C. G., Bahl, R., Barros, A. J., França, G. V., Horton, S., Krasevec, J., … & Group, T. L.
B. S. (2016). Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong
effect. The Lancet, 387(10017), 475-490.