PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Across the vast mine field of the so-called mommy wars, few issues can set off a verbal battle faster than a discussion of breast-feeding and whether a new mother does or doesn’t.
The science is clear that infants who are exclusively breast-fed for at least the first six months of life are less likely to develop common childhood ailments such as ear infections and asthma, and are less prone to obesity later in life.
Some studies even suggest that breast-fed babies grow up smarter, possibly because of antibodies they ingest – though the fact that educated, wealthier women who stress early-childhood education are more likely to nurse may have something to do with it… (more)
EDITOR: We Americans need to overcome our aversion to public breast feeding and employers, whereever practical, should provide lounges for mothers to feed babies or evacuate the milk for future use. This is the type of preventive health care that a system of universal health care or Obama care would promote.
