Proposal: to Increase Breastfeeding Rates in New York
Public Budgeting
Professor Lynch
Spring 2009
Proposal to: Increase Breastfeeding Rates in New York
Introduction
In a time when overwhelming research shows that human milk is superior to any sort of manufactured human milk substitute, with great economic benefits for breastfeeding families, the health care system, and society in general, breastfeeding is no longer seen as just an individual choice, but as a public health challenge that deserves more publicity to create supportive systems and environments for mothers to breastfeed.
Human milk is more than food, it’s a living substance like blood that have active germs fighting and health ingredients to help protect babies against all kinds of common or un-common infections. Human milk have all the necessary nutrients and a low protein content a baby will need and any period of breastfeeding a women can give either short or long would be of benefit.
The national goals set by Health People 2010 are for 75% of women to initiate breastfeeding, for 50% to still be breastfeeding at 6 months and 25 % by 12 months.
Billions of healthcare dollars would be saved if more infants were exclusively breastfed and for a longer time. The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
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estimates that $2 billion per year are spent by families on infant formula and that $3.6 – 7 billion dollars could be saved each year in preventable conditions if breastfeeding rates were increased to the recommended levels.
Breastfeeding is one of the most important aspects of infant health. When babies are fed with formula rather than breast milk they are more likely to be sick more often and more seriously. The health problems that infants encounter for not breastfeeding are gastrointestinal, respiratory, and ear infections. There are negative health consequences to not breastfeeding for the mother also. The mothers experience more postpartum bleeding and delayed uterine involution, return or no return to pre-pregnancy weight
Professor Lynch
Spring 2009
Proposal to: Increase Breastfeeding Rates in New York
Introduction
In a time when overwhelming research shows that human milk is superior to any sort of manufactured human milk substitute, with great economic benefits for breastfeeding families, the health care system, and society in general, breastfeeding is no longer seen as just an individual choice, but as a public health challenge that deserves more publicity to create supportive systems and environments for mothers to breastfeed.
Human milk is more than food, it’s a living substance like blood that have active germs fighting and health ingredients to help protect babies against all kinds of common or un-common infections. Human milk have all the necessary nutrients and a low protein content a baby will need and any period of breastfeeding a women can give either short or long would be of benefit.
The national goals set by Health People 2010 are for 75% of women to initiate breastfeeding, for 50% to still be breastfeeding at 6 months and 25 % by 12 months.
Billions of healthcare dollars would be saved if more infants were exclusively breastfed and for a longer time. The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
Page 2
estimates that $2 billion per year are spent by families on infant formula and that $3.6 – 7 billion dollars could be saved each year in preventable conditions if breastfeeding rates were increased to the recommended levels.
Breastfeeding is one of the most important aspects of infant health. When babies are fed with formula rather than breast milk they are more likely to be sick more often and more seriously. The health problems that infants encounter for not breastfeeding are gastrointestinal, respiratory, and ear infections. There are negative health consequences to not breastfeeding for the mother also. The mothers experience more postpartum bleeding and delayed uterine involution, return or no return to pre-pregnancy weight