As a recent parent I would love it if there was more realistic health information for parents about the benefits of breastfeeding. As best I can tell from metastudies (which I'm totally unqualified to read), the scientific answer right now is: there may be some effect, but if so it's too small to reliably measure and may be swamped by other interventions. (I could be wrong! That's why I want better info.)
(Compare to, say, the advice to have infants sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS, or the HPV vaccine, which have clear and measurable health impacts at a population level.)
This matters because breastfeeding has costs that tend to be ignored. Just from personal experience, it pushes disproportionate work onto my wife in a way that's hard to correct for and detracts from parenting. And given that she's working full time, it's also a huge investment of resources -- if you take her work time into account, we're spending tens or hundreds of dollars a day for this. And many women get injuries and infections, soldiering through months of agony for that health benefit that may or may not exist.
Setting aside the health of the parents (and we shouldn't, that's an easy trap), breastfeeding uses a lot of resources that could go toward other interventions for the child. Maybe it's all worth it? But I wish there was a better conversation about the tradeoffs.
(Compare to, say, the advice to have infants sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS, or the HPV vaccine, which have clear and measurable health impacts at a population level.)
This matters because breastfeeding has costs that tend to be ignored. Just from personal experience, it pushes disproportionate work onto my wife in a way that's hard to correct for and detracts from parenting. And given that she's working full time, it's also a huge investment of resources -- if you take her work time into account, we're spending tens or hundreds of dollars a day for this. And many women get injuries and infections, soldiering through months of agony for that health benefit that may or may not exist.
Setting aside the health of the parents (and we shouldn't, that's an easy trap), breastfeeding uses a lot of resources that could go toward other interventions for the child. Maybe it's all worth it? But I wish there was a better conversation about the tradeoffs.