The Health and Financial Benefits of Breastfeeding

According to a 2016 study in medical journalThe Lancet global, universal breastfeeding would prevent about 800,000 child deaths every year around the world, and create $300-billion dollars in savings annually from lowered health care costs. And while the percentage of women who choose to breastfeed their child had dipped in the U-S, it’s been on the rise since the early 90s, and the trendline continues going up. Today is the last day of World Breastfeeding Week, a global effort to promote the benefits of breastfeeding, so we thought we’d spend a few minutes with two experts on the topic from Lee Health to talk about their efforts to help women before, during, and after giving birth, and to successfully breastfeed their babies. Dr. Carol Lawrence is a supervisor of Perinatal Practice, Education, Research, and Lactation; and Delilah Edwards is a Board Certified Lactation Consultant and Maternal Educator.