Support&Proote Public Breastfeeding

Support and Promote Public Breastfeeding At any given time of day, a newborn baby is being brought into our world; in fact, there are about 12,343 newborn babies every day. Our earth’s population is growing at a faster pace every year, and each year there are more and more children that are not getting the proper nutrition that is needed. A large contributing factor to this issue is the decreased popularity of breastfeeding by mothers. Based on my extensive research, I have found that most of the world respects and supports public breastfeeding, or breastfeeding at all, with the exception of some countries such as Germany, Malaysia, China, India and even here in the United States. Public outlook and opinion seems to be the deciding factor of whether a mother breastfeeds or not in a certain region. In early 2008, Cambridge University conducted a survey that showed in the United States only 61% of children zero to three months old were being breastfed, 48% of children from three to six months old, and a shocking 31% of children from six months to a year old. In that same study, research showed that the percentage of mother’s breastfeeding dropped dramatically while in a public setting. (Sherma, 2008) It is evident that mothers in the United States are not breastfeeding as much as they should and that they are effected by public opinion, thus causing an even lower breastfeeding rate than normal.
The problem with a lower breastfeeding rate is that the young children will not be getting the proper nutrients that are vital for early child development and health. The United States is faced with a complex issue today that has a simple answer; for more mothers to breastfeed their children there must be more public support from the government and communities. Once mothers begin to feel more comfortable and socially accepted while breastfeeding, the numbers of breastfed children will increase.
The importance of breast milk to a newborn child can be life or death.