Breastmilk and Breastfeeding: Facts at a Glance

Fast facts about breastfeeding and breastmilk

Breastfeeding and breastmilk consumption produce zero-to-minimal waste

• With no ‘industry’ required to manufacture breastmilk, its ecological footprint is feather light [3].

Breastmilk is 87% water, keeping babies properly hydrated in the first 6 months

• The ‘standard’ composition of breastmilk is 87% water, 3.8% fat, 1.0% protein and 7% lactose, keeping babies properly hydrated and nourished [6, 7].
• Yet breastmilk composition changes dynamically – hourly, daily, weekly and monthly – adapting to each infant’s nutritional, developmental and immune needs [6].

Mothers send signals about when to sleep, wake and eat to their newborns via breastmilk

• Mothers help set their infants’ circadian clocks thanks to hormones like glucocorticoids and melatonin that pass from her plasma to her milk [11].
• Breastmilk concentrations of fat, proteins and amino acids, among others, differ dramatically from day to night, also helping infants develop their own circadian rhythms [11].

Foods mothers eat change the flavor of their breastmilk

• Sweet, bitter, sour, salty, umami – the flavors infants are exposed to via breastmilk contribute to their unique set of taste preferences [14].
• Infants exposed to a wide variety of flavors from healthy, nutrient-rich foods – first through amniotic fluid and later through breastmilk – can lead to healthier food choices and optimal health later in life [14].

Breastfed babies typically get sick less often than babies who do not receive breastmilk

• When breastfed babies do get sick, they send signals to their mother via saliva to produce breastmilk that contains illness-specific antibodies [15, 16].

Breastmilk heals from the outside in 

• Thanks to its antibodies, a few drops of breastmilk can help treat cuts, soothe diaper rash or even help infants with eye and ear infections [17].

Breastfeeding mothers make a direct, positive contribution to the national economy through their supply of breastmilk [10].

• Yet not breastfeeding is calculated to cost nearly USD 600 billion per year in economic and human capital losses [21].

Maternal health

 Breastfeeding reduces a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer

• The reduction effect increases with the number of months spent breastfeeding. In other words, the more time a mother spends breastfeeding, the more protection she gains against developing breast cancer [4].

Breastfeeding can protect women from major non-communicable diseases

• Breastfeeding duration is strongly linked to a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus [19] and other chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and hyperlipidemia [20].

Breastfeeding may improve endometriosis and reduce its symptoms

• Up to 10% of the general female population is affected by endometriosis, a gynecological, estrogen-dependent, inflammatory disease linked to everything from pelvic pain to trouble conceiving [22].
• Hormones involved in breastfeeding may prevent or mitigate the development endometriosis [18].

Infant health

­Benefits of breastfeeding and breastmilk extend throughout life

• Individuals who had been breastfed show improved performance on intelligence tests and higher earnings in adulthood [5].
• Breastmilk can protect against developing metabolic diseases, like childhood obesity [9].
• Any amount of breastfeeding shows a protective trend for the prevention of asthma [23].

Breastfeeding can save infant lives

• Breastfeeding has a protective effect against sudden infant death syndrome [2].
• Globally, almost 600,000 childhood deaths are attributed to not breastfeeding annually [12].

Breastfeeding can prevent lower respiratory tract infections

• Breastfed babies are at lower risk for developing acute bronchitis, influenza and pneumonia [1].

References

¹https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172763
²https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13124
³https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l5646
⁴https://doi.org/10.1177/0890334416683676
⁵https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13139
⁶https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2812877/
⁷https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/breastfeeding
⁹https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16460
¹⁰https://doi.org/10.1177/0890334413494827
¹¹https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.867507
¹²https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czz050
¹³https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2022.04.034
¹⁴https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13668-017-0200-3
¹⁵https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fcti.2013.1 
¹⁶https://www.nature.com/articles/pr201134
¹⁷https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fnu11050944
¹⁸https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fijerph182010602
¹⁹https://www.nature.com/articles/nrendo.2018.9
²⁰https://doi.org/10.1177/1010539515624964
²¹The Cost of Not Breastfeeding (aliveandthrive.org)
²²Endometriosis (who.int)
²³Breastfeeding and risk of childhood asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis - PMC (nih.gov)