Breastfeeding
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It's the healthiest and best way your feed your baby! It's the only natural food designed for your baby! It's completely free and can build a strong emotional bond between mother and baby. Learn about how to breastfeed and the benefits.
It’s never too early to start thinking about how you're going to feed your baby. Today, most women in England are choosing to breastfeed. Breastfeeding is the healthiest way to feed your baby. Exclusive breastfeeding (giving your baby breast milk only) is recommended for around the first six months (26 weeks) of your baby's life. After that, giving your baby breast milk alongside other food will help them continue to grow and develop.
Your complete guide to breastfeeding, from latching on to milk stains. Whether you're a beginner or wondering when to wean, find the answers here.
The benefits of breastfeeding for you and your baby are so great that experts recommend that, in almost every circumstance, breastfeeding your baby for the first six months is the best option for both your health and your baby's health, even in countries where infant formula is easily obtained and water supplies are clean and safe. Nevertheless, deciding whether to do this is a personal decision and you need to consider both the pros and cons of both types of feeding for you and your baby. You don't have to choose completely between them - you can do both, for different periods of time and in different proportions. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages, and to help you think them through we have listed the main ones here:
Our work to support breastfeeding is based on extensive and resounding evidence that breastfeeding saves lives, improves health and cuts costs in every country worldwide.