Breastfeeding Support Encouraged by US Surgeon General
by Rudolph Yap in Nutrition on Feb 15, 2011
The US Surgeon General said that Americans should be more supportive of breastfeeding. This was discussed in a press briefing which was flanked by breastfeeding advocates – including director Spike Lee’s wife, Tonya Lewis Lee. Dr. Regina Benjamin presented detail by detail her plans on what she calls “Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding,” wherein she recommended greater cultural support of nurses at work, at home, and in the community.
Benjamin said during the said press briefing, “One of the most highly effective preventive measures a mother can take to protect her child and her own health is to breastfeed.” In addition, Benjamin explained that mother’s milk has been proven to reduce illnesses and infections like diarrhea, ear infections, pneumonia and asthma. Also, it protects babies against obesity. This also helps mothers reduce risks such as breast and ovarian cancer.
According to the latest national data, a 75 percentage of mothers who started out breastfeeding, but after six months there is only 45 percent left breastfeeding.
Moreover, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the Department of Health and Human Services commented, “for much of the last century, America’s mothers were given poor advice and were discouraged from breastfeeding, to the point that it became an unusual choice in this country.”
Benjamin is now backing several strategies so that breastfeeding will be welcomed not only by mothers but as well as the whole nation.
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