The world could save around a billion dollars a day if women were to breastfeed more, avoiding 820,000 infant deaths as well as ovarian and breast cancer for mothers.
The “Cost of Not Breastfeeding” online tool, developed by researchers in Canada and Asia, uses data from a six-year study by Alive & Thrive – an American maternal and child nutrition initiative – to raise awareness of the economic and health benefits of nursing.
Today, only 40% of babies under six months are breastfed in the world, due to over-advertisement of baby formula, the taboo of breastfeeding publicly and work restrictions such as short maternity leaves.
“It is a human right, it saves lives and improves the prosperity of economies,” says Canada-based health economics expert Dylan Walters.
The World Health Organization recommends women exclusively nurse their babies until they are six months, followed by incorporating a mix of breast milk and other food until the age of two.
