The Benefits Of Breastfeeding

The media has had several news stories about baby formula recalls and issues. In news article from 2013, metal shavings were found in formula (Gloriosio, 2013). Enfamil has statements regarding the formula saying that the aluminum shavings were from the top when it is opened by the consumer, however these traces are not big enough to affect the consumer. This controversy has opened up many mother’s eyes to think about breastfeeding their infants instead of using formula. Breastfeeding has been around longer than formula, however with changes in economy and lifestyles it took a backseat for a period of time. Mothers have a choice to breastfeed or bottle feed. Does breastfeeding education given by the nurse during prenatal visits impact a mother’s
Many people do not want to argue that bottle feeding is better than breastfeeding, however many people still are bottle feeding over breastfeeding. “Although nearly 80% of mothers initiate breastfeeding, only 50% of mothers are still breastfeeding at 6 weeks, and less than 15% are exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months. The United States lags significantly behind Healthy People 2020 goals despite the health risks of not breastfeeding” (Bass, 2015, p. 24). The goal of the project is to initiate, but it leads to the bigger goal of continuing breastfeeding for the first six months. Bass also noted that for every 3-5 women that participate in prenatal education, one will initiate breastfeeding and continue for up to three months (Bass, 2015). The importance of education is a barrier that can be broken through open lines of
Although not all hospitals have a breastfeeding initiative, it is becoming more standard. Many hospitals are ridding free formula for patients in hopes to help breastfeeding numbers to rise.
The strength of the research collected is strong, as it has reliable sources. There were multiple studies that were taken into consideration for this project. All which have shown data that is comparable.
Steps 8 and 9: Summarize the Evidence
The evidence regarding prenatal education for breastfeeding displays the need for more education to mothers along with a need for support after giving birth. In Australia, a study was done comparing breastfeeding mothers that received early bird education about breastfeeding throughout their prenatal visits to those who did not. In the figure below note that the EBP (the early bird program) has higher rates of mothers choosing to breastfeed to those that did not participate in the program.

Figure 1. . Breastfeeding status at 8 weeks by number of visits and type of service attended. EBP, Earlybird Program (Kruske, Schmied, & Cook, 2007, p.