Recommendations for a successful breastfeeding start:
1) Read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League
2) Join your local La Leche League group (www.llli.org)
3) Read Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding by Ina May Gaskin

Benefits of breastfeeding to babies

• Mother's milk is the perfect baby food.  Babies who are exclusively breastfed for at least the first 6 months of life have fewer health problems, including:

                * 3 times fewer ear infections
                * 5 times fewer Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)
                * 5 times fewer serious illnesses
                * 7 times fewer allergies

• Because human milk is so easy to digest, babies spit up less often and experience less diarrhea and constipation.
• For every 87 artificially fed babies who die from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), only 3 breastfed babies die.
• Babies who are fed only breast milk for at least 26 weeks are 6 times less likely to develop Lymphoma (type of cancer) in childhood.
• Babies who are breastfed for at least one year are half as likely to develop diabetes.
• Breastfeeding can begin a lifetime of good health for your child.

Benefits to adults who were breastfed

• As adults, people who were breastfed have:

                * Less asthma, allergies and diabetes.
                * Fewer skin problems, including Dermatitis and Eczema.
                * Lower risk of heart attack or stroke, due to lower cholesterol levels.
                * Less Ulcerative Colitis (ulcers in the large intestine).
                * Less Crohn's Disease.
                * Protection from certain chronic liver diseases.
                * Higher IQ's.  Breastmilk is brainfood.  Studies show that children and adults who were breastfed have higher 
​                    IQ's by an average of 7 points than those who were given milk substitutes.

Benefits of breastfeeding to Mom

• Women who breastfeed lower their risk of breast cancer.

                * Nursing for a lifetime total of 2 years lowers risk before menopause by 40%.
                * Nursing for a lifetime total of 6 years lowers risk before menopause by 66%.
                * Nursing for a lifetime total of 7 years lowers risk throughout woman's lifetime to almost zero.

• Breastfeeding provides lifetime protection from cancer of the ovaries and cervix, as well as Osteoporosis.
• Breastfeeding moms lose pregnancy weight faster after birth.
• Breastfeeding moms have flatter stomachs after the birth due to the uterus shrinking in size.
• Breastfeeding moms get more sleep, and thus have a much lower chance of experiencing Postpartum Depression.