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{{Construction Site}}[[File:Breastfeeding.jpg|thumb|Breastfeeding a newborn baby at the mother's breast, which is swollen due to milk production. The baby is held in such a way that it can continue to breathe through the nose.]]'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' and human milk are the normative standards for infant feeding and nutritionfor the first six months of life according to the [[Canadian Paediatric Society]] and the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]].<ref name="cps2013">{{REFjournal
→Circumcision impairs commencement of breastfeeding: Add text and citation.
|last=Critch
|first=
|DOI=10.1542/peds.2022-057988
|accessdate=2022-12-06
}}</ref> Human milk should be the sole source of nutrition for the first six months, however the [[Canadian Paediatric Society]] (2013) and the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] (2022) recommended supplementation with Vitamin D.<ref name="cps2013"/><ref name="aap2022"/> Complementary foods are introduced at about six months of age, but breastfeeding should continue.<ref name="cps2013"/><ref name="aap2022"/>
The [[WHO]] and [[UNICEF]] recommend recommend that children initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life — meaning no other foods or liquids are provided, including water. Infants should be breastfed on demand — that is as often as the child wants, day and night. No bottles, teats or pacifiers should be used. From the age of 6 months, children should begin eating safe and adequate complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed for up to 2 years and beyond.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.who.int/health-topics/breastfeeding#tab=tab_2
|title=Breastfeeding
|publisher=[[WHO]]
|accessdate=2022-12-08
}}</ref>
Tan et al. (2019) reported:
<blockquote>
Early circumcision, within the first 3 days of life, may have a negative effect on the duration of breastfeeding. In our study, circumcised male infants had more than 4 fewer weeks of breastfeeding than their sibling controls. It may be beneficial to delay circumcision till after breastfeeding is properly established.<ref name="tan2024">{{REFjournal
|last=Tan
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=
|last2=Noble
|first2=
|init2=L
|author2-link=
|last3=Jain
|first3=
|init3=S
|author3-link=
|last4=Shajan
|first4=
|init4=A
|author4-link=
|last5=Craik
|first5=
|init5=D
|author5-link=
|etal=no
|title=The Effect of Early Circumcision on Breastfeeding Duration Using Sibling Comparisons
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Pediatrics
|location=
|date=2019-08
|volume=144
|issue=2
|article=2_MeetingAbstract): 273
|pages=
|url=https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/144/2_MeetingAbstract/273/3356/The-Effect-of-Early-Circumcision-on-Breastfeeding
|archived=
|quote=
|DOI=10.1542/peds.144.2MA3.273
|accessdate=2024-07-21
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] reported that more than 80 percent of American mothers breastfeed, which makes breastfeeding the cultural norm in the [[United States]].<ref name="aap2022"/>
== Benefits of breastfeeding ==
The advantages of breastfeeding have long been known. [[James Calvert Spence]] (1938) reported the benefits to the health and welfare of the infant.<ref name="spence1938">{{REFjournal
|last=Spence
|first=
|init=JC
|author-link=James Calvert Spence
|etal=no
|title=The modern decline of breastfeeding
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Br Med J
|location=
|date=1938-10-08
|volume=2
|issue=4057
|pages=729-33
|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2210420/pdf/brmedj04218-0002.pdf
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=20781788
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1136/bmj.2.4057.729
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-03-26
}}</ref>
The Canadian Paediatric Society reported that breastfeeding is associated with "improved cognitive development."<ref name="cps2013" />
The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] reported that, as compared with formula feeding, breastfeeding reduces [[SIDS|sudden infant death syndrome]] (SIDS), infant and neonatal mortality, lower respiratory tract infection, severe or persistent diarrhea, otitis media, asthma, eczema, Crohn's disease, colitis, childhood and adult obesity, diabetes, and leukemia.<ref name="aap2022" />
In infancy, simple sugars in breast milk, like antibacterial oligosaccharides, are acquired from the mother's milk and excreted in [[urine]]. University studies have shown that these substances cling to the [[mucosa]]l lining of the inner foreskin and protect against urinary tract infections,<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Hanson
|init=LA
|last2=Karlsson
|init2=B
|last3=Jalil
|init3=F
|etal=yes
|chapter=Antiviral and antibacterial factors in human milk
|editor=Hanson LA
|title=Biology of Human Milk
|location=New York
|publisher=Raven Press
|year=1988
|pages=141-57
}}</ref> as well as [[infection]] in other parts of the body.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Coppa
|init=GV
|last2=Gabrielli
|init2=O
|last3=Giorgi
|init3=P
|last4=Catassi
|init4=C
|last5=Montanari
|init5=MP
|last6=Veraldo
|init6=PE
|last7=Nichols
|init7=BL
|title=Preliminary study of breast feeding and bacterial adhesion to uroepithelial cells
|journal=Lancet
|date=1990-03-10
|volume=335
|issue=8689
|pages=569-71
}}</ref> Babies excrete in their [[urine]] about 300-500 milligrams of oligosaccharides each day. These compounds prevent virulent strains of ''Escherichia coli'' from adhering to the [[mucosa]] lining of the entire urinary tract, including the [[foreskin]] and [[glans]]. For these reasons breast-milk is highly efficacious at preventing [[UTI]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Gothefors
|init=L
|last2=Olling
|init2=S
|last3=Winberg
|init3=J
|title=Breastfeeding and biological properties of faecal ''E. coli'' strains
|journal=Acta Paediatr Scand
|date=1975-11
|volume=54
|issue=6
|pages=807-12
}}</ref> Rigorous studies have repeatedly demonstrated that breast feeding protects against urinary tract infections.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Mårild
|init=S
|title=Breastfeeding and Urinary tract Infections
|journal=Lancet
|date=1990
|volume=336
|page=942
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Pisacane
|init=A
|etal=yes
|title=Breastfeeding and urinary tract infection
|journal=Lancet
|date=1990-07-07
|page=50
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Pisacane
|init=A
|last2=Graziano
|init2=L
|last3=Mazzarella
|init3=G
|etal=yes
|title=Breast-feeding and urinary tract infection
|journal=J Pediatr
|date=1992
|volume=120
|pages=87-89
}}</ref>
== Contraindications to breastfeeding ==
There are certain conditions that contraindicate breastfeeding. The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] provides a discussion of contraindications.<ref name="aap2022"/>
== Video ==
=== Why is breastfeeding important? ===
<youtube>v=yt2pMQjzP50</youtube>
== Circumcision impairs commencement of breastfeeding ==
Neonatal [[circumcision]] is a medically unnecessary, non-therapeutic, intensely [[Pain| painful]] surgery that is carried out just at the time when breastfeeding is being commenced. Circumcision causes extreme [[pain]], [[trauma]], and [[shock]], and disturbs feeding behavior.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; Task Force on Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents
|etal=no
|title=The Assessment and Management of Acute Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents (0793)
|journal=Pediatrics
|location=
|date=2002-09
|season=
|volume=108
|issue=3
|article=
|page=
|pages=793-7
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/re9933/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=11533354
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1542/peds.108.3.793
|accessdate=2022-12-08
}}</ref> [[Circumcised]] boys will be very uncomfortable and fussy when compared with [[intact]] boys and girls.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://thewholetruth.data.blog/2025/06/25/fussy-boys-calm-girls-how-circumcision-distorts-our-view-of-gender-behavior/
|title=Fussy Boys & Calm Girls: How Circumcision Distorts Our View of Gender Behavior
|last=Barrett
|first=
|init=JL
|author-link=
|publisher=The Whole Truth
|date=2025-06-25
|accessdate=2025-06-26
}}</ref> The newborn infant boy is left in a debilitated state in which he may be unable to initiate breastfeeding,<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Lee
|first=
|init=N
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision and Breastfeeding
|journal=J Hum Lact
|date=2000
|volume=16
|issue=4
|article=
|page=295
|pages=
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/birth/lee1/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=15675048
|accessdate=2022-12-07
}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Caplan
|first=
|init=L
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Circumcision and Breastfeeding: A Response to Nikki Lee's Letter
|journal=J Hum Lact
|location=
|date=2001
|volume=17
|issue=1
|article=
|page=7
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/birth/caplan1/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=11847856
|accessdate=2022-12-07
}}</ref> which frequently results in the substution of formula feeding to the detriment of a boy's health.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|etal=no
|title=Breastfeeding must be given priority over circumcision
|journal=J Hum Lact
|location=
|date=2003-02
|volume=19
|issue=1
|page=21
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/birth/hill1/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=12587640
|accessdate=2022-12-07
}}</ref>
Parents are reminded that [[circumcision]] has no proven health benefit, produces significant [[trauma]],<ref name="agoglu2022">{{REFjournal
|last=Aydoğlu
|first=
|init=B
|author-link=
|last2=Aydoğlu
|first2=
|init2=M
|author2-link=
|last3=Okur
|first3=
|init3=MH
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=Social and psychological effects of circumcision: A narrative review
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Journal of Applied Nursing and Health
|location=
|date=2022-12
|volume=4
|issue=2
|pages=264-71
|url=https://janh.candle.or.id/index.php/janh/article/view/110/138
|archived=
|quote=
||DOI=10.55018/janh.v4i2.110
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-12-16
}}</ref> and is not recommended by any medical society in the world, while breastfeeding has numerous health benefits and is recommended world-wide.
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Immunological protection of breastfeeding]]
* [[La Leche League International]]
* [[Protection of intact newborns in hospital]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/birth/leaven1/
|title=Breastfeeding Problems After Circumcision
|publisher=La Leche League
|date=1994-09
|accessdate=2022-12-09
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/birth/
|title=Effects of circumcision on breastfeeding, maternal bonding, and child development
|last=Anonymous
|first=
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Circumcision Reference Library
|date=2013
|accessdate=2025-04-26
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.academia.edu/19713609/Breastfeeding_Interference_from_Circumcision
|title=Breastfeeding Interference from Circumcision
|last=Bollinger
|first=
|init=D
|author-link=
|publisher=[[Intact America]]
|date=2015-12-17
|accessdate=2024-08-23
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/good-latch-key-successful-breastfeeding
|title=A Good Latch Is The Key To Successful Breastfeeding
|publisher=KidsHealth of New Zealand
|date=2022-05-30
|accessdate=2023-02-25
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://caringforkids.cps.ca/handouts/pregnancy-and-babies/breastfeeding
|date=2020-08
|accessdate=2022-12-06
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.savingsons.org/2016/08/breastfeeding-and-circumcision-resources.html
|title=Breastfeeding and Circumcision Resources
|publisher=Breastfeeding and Circumcision Resources
|date=2022
|website=[[Saving Our Sons]]
|accessdate=2024-09-04
}}
* {{REFweb
|init=
|publisher=healthychildren.org
|date=2022
|accessdate=2022-12-06
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.yourwholebaby.org/search?q=breastfeeding
|title=Breastfeeding Index
|publisher=[[Your Whole Baby]]
|date=
|accessdate=2022-12-0611}}* {{REFweb |url=http://www.drmomma.org/2020/09/babys-breastfeeding-pattern.html |title=Baby's Breastfeeding Pattern |publisher=[[Peaceful parenting]] |date= |accessdate=2022-12-11}}* {{REFweb |url=https://intactamerica.org/circumcision-impact-early-bonding-between-mother-child/ |title=How Circumcision Affects the Early Bonding Process Between Mother and Child |last=Alissa |first=K |init= |author-link=Kristel Alissa |publisher=[[Intact America]] |date=2025-01-26 |accessdate=2025-01-28
}}
{{REF}}
[[Category:American Academy of Pediatrics]]
[[Category:Breastfeeding]]
[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Parental information]]
[[de:Stillen]]