It’s World Breastfeeding week and mothers should know what are the advantages and the joys of breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics supports breastfeeding as “uniquely superior for infant feeding” and recommends that breastfeeding start as soon after birth as possible.

The advantages of breastfeeding include a decrease in infant mortality, fewer respiratory infections, higher IQ scores, a reduced risk of diabetes. Research studies have shown that there is a link between breastfeeding and higher IQ scores, which involves a gene called FADS2 that partly controls the fatty acids pathways. Moreover, studies have shown that children who are fed formula have increased risks of ear and respiratory infections, obesity, diabetes, and even cancer.

But breastfeeding has some advantages for the mother, too. These include a reduced risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, a reduced risk of diabetes, a reduced risk of spinal and hip fractures in postmenopausal women, help in returning to pre-pregnancy weight more rapidly.

According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 77 percent of new mothers breast-fed, at least briefly, up from 60 percent in 1993-1994.

New mothers should breast-feed their babies exclusively for the first six months of their life and continue breast-feeding with baby food as a supplement until at least the baby’s first birthday, doctors recommend.

Breast milk is the best food for babies as it contains sufficient and necessary nutritional values that are suitable to protect them from any form of diseases they are prone to at this age.