World Health Organization: No long-term benefits to breastfeeding

I have breastfed. I still breastfeed my 19-month-old. If it was up to Tycho, I'm sure we'd be breastfeeding until elementary school (despite my plans to cut him off entirely by at least three -- good thing he doesn't understand that yet!). I enjoy it, he enjoys it, it's a mutually-beneficial relationship, and I'll be sad when it's gone.

But is breast "best"? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the answer is a resounding "NO".

The WHO recently published Long-term effects of breastfeeding: a systematic review by Bernardo L. Horta and Cesar G. Victoria, both MD, PhDs from Universidade Federal de Pelotas in Brazil. While this study serves mostly to supplement one done under the same name, published in 2007, this 74-page research paper touts the benefits of breastfeeding in the first six months, but also resoundingly shows that there is no evidence for long-term health benefits of breastfeeding.

I bolded that and made it huge because, as a breastfeeder and, even more, as a relactation-er, while breastfeeding for any length of time is a worthy goal that should be socially accepted and assisted to ensure a mother's success (provided it's what she actually wants to do), I did it NOT for the health benefits, but for that mutually-beneficial relationship.

And I strongly believe that, regardless of how you feed your child, you also have the same right to have that mutually-beneficial relationship.

Most people who read this blog (and, for that matter, even have access to the internet) are, I assume, from an industrialized society of some sort, one that has clean water and access to healthy, scientifically-sound, entirely safe and effective infant and toddler formulas. Considering this, any benefits to breastfeeding are small and short-term, so there's no reason for any mother who chooses formula-feeding to feel guilty at all.

And for chrissake, can we stop with this "liquid gold" mantra? It's just milk. Sure, it's your milk, and as someone who relactated, I can appreciate how much each drop matters to a mother. But it is just milk. This nomenclature serves only to humiliate and vilify mothers who feed their babies infant formula, whether by choice or by circumstance.

You're doing great, mama. Absolutely wonderfully. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, and know that you have the WHO (and me!) on your side. ♥