If exclusive breastfeeding was
practiced for the first 12 weeks of an infant’s life:
- $2.16 billion annually would be saved because of less illness and disease
country wide.
- $3.02 billion annually would be saved from household expenses because of the
reduced costs of formula purchasing, family planning benefits and decreased health care
expenditures country wide.
If an infant is breastfed for at least 6 months:
- $205 would be saved per infant by the HMO, representing an
almost 10% reduction
in health care cost in the first year of life (for the first year of life each breastfed
infant cost HMO $2,040 vs. non breastfeeding infants cost $2,245).
- $491,000 would be saved annually in health care costs by the HMO is 46% vs. the
current 26% of infants breastfed for the first six months of life.
If all of the women who participate in the
Women, Infant, and Children Supplemental Feeding Program (WIC) breastfed for one
month:
- $30 million would be saved in formula costs by the US
Government.
- 75%
of of the women who participate in WIC breastfed for 3 months.
- $48
million would be saved.
If a woman breastfeeds for
the first year of the infant’s life:
- $683 in the first year of life per infant would be saved from the
family's budget because of not needing to purchase breastmilk substitutes.
If working mothers
breastmilk feed their infants for 100 work days:
- 27.3% less absenteeism would take place from work.
- 35.7% less health care claims would be filed.
References.
Specific references available upon request. An excellent source
of additional information can be found in Breastfeeding:
A Guide for the Medical Profession, 1999 (5th Ed) Ruth A.
Lawrence and Robert M. Lawrence, MD Mosby Year Book
Use of Breastfeeding Fact Sheets developed by The
Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles
The Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los
Angeles has developed the Breastfeeding Fact Sheets as a service, and site
visitors are welcomed and encouraged to use them. If the Breastfeeding Fact
Sheets are used "as is", we request that the Breastfeeding Task Force
of Greater Los Angeles be credited. If the Breastfeeding Fact Sheets are
modified or adapted, we request that we be credited as "adapted from
...", and that a copy of the adapted material be sent to us. Site visitors
are also encouraged to draw upon and use the information contained in the
Breastfeeding Fact Sheets as resource material to support their efforts to
promote, support and protect breastfeeding.
