You already know that breastmilk is the ideal nutrition for newborns, and you probably know that breastfeeding has health benefits for moms, too. But have you also considered how environmentally-friendly breastfeeding is? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, let me take a step back. Ask any mother who has tried to breastfeed her child, and she will tell you, breastfeeding is hard.<\/em> Each of us has had our struggles and varying degrees of success. For me, the initial nipple pain came as a shock. Then, I nearly quit when a cracked nipple, caused by improperly latching my newborn, refused to heal on its own. Had my doctor not provided a remedy during my postpartum checkup, I likely would have stopped breastfeeding, even though I desired to continue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While breastfeeding may not be possible for every mother, a concerning trend<\/a> has emerged. For a variety of reasons, one in six babies in the United States never receive any breastmilk, and even though the rest are at least partially breastfed at first, the proportion of babies exclusively or partially breastfed steadily drops with time. By six months of age, only about half of babies in the United States receive any breastmilk and only a quarter are exclusively breastfed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To put that in context, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends<\/a> that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives, and that they continue breastfeeding for as long as two years and beyond. The American Heart Association recommends<\/a> babies be breastfed for the first 12 months of life, with the incorporation of solid foods beginning between 4-6 months of age.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result of the less-than-ideal rates of breastfeeding initiation and continuation in the US, many American mothers and babies are missing out on the many b<\/a>en<\/a>efits<\/a> of breastfeeding.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Babies who are breastfed have a lower risk of respiratory infections, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), leukemia, necrotizing enterocolitis<\/a> (severe inflammation of the intestines that can lead to tissue death), and several life-long diseases, such as type 1 and type 2 diabetes, asthma, and celiac<\/a> dise<\/a>ase<\/a> (gluten intolerance).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n For mothers, breastfeeding lowers the risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and breast, ovarian, endometrial, and thyroid cancers. According to a 2022 study<\/a>, breastfeeding, even for a short period of time, significantly decreases a mom\u2019s risk of developing heart disease or suffering a stroke later in life. Other compelling research has found<\/a> that for every 597 mothers who breastfeed, the death of one mother or child is avoided [1].\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given how difficult breastfeeding can be, being fully informed about these benefits is especially helpful so mothers know their struggles are not in vain. And a lesser-discussed benefit of breastfeeding that may give nursing mothers further encouragement is its eco-friendliness: for a variety of reasons, breastfeeding is better for the environment than breastmilk substitutes (more commonly known as formula). <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2020<\/a>, breastfeeding advocacy organization La Leche League International\u2019s theme of the year was \u201cSupport breastfeeding for a healthier planet.\u201d LLLI pointed out, as others have, that infant and toddler formulas harm the environment through multiple avenues. First, most formula is made from powdered cows\u2019 milk, and livestock are a leading <\/a>pro<\/a>ducer<\/a> of methane gas, which, like carbon dioxide, traps heat in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere [2]. Caring for cows on a massive production-level scale has an impact too, as cows consume large quantities of water, and land must be cleared to house the cows.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, turning raw whole milk into powdered cows\u2019 milk is an intensi<\/a>ve pr<\/a>ocess<\/a> in which raw whole milk must be cooled, stored, and later separated into components that are then homogenized, pasteurized, and undergo evaporation [3]. Finally, the components are mixed, dried, cooled, and sold as milk powder. Additionally, because powdered cows\u2019 milk lacks adequate nutrients for a growing (human) baby, o<\/a>th<\/a>er products<\/a> must be added, such as palm, coconut, rapeseed, and sunflower oils along with fungal, algal, and fish oils, and minerals and vitamins\u2014each of which may harm the environment when produced [2].\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a study, researchers estim<\/a>at<\/a>ed<\/a> that the carbon emissions associated with just producing<\/em> powdered formula (including brands made without cows\u2019 milk) in North America for one year was equivalent to driving a car more than 114,000 times around the Earth\u2019s equator [3]. It would take more than 1.3 million acres of U.S. forests (which absorb carbon dioxide) one year to offset the carbon emissions\u2014and that\u2019s just for North America. Another study rep<\/a>o<\/a>rted<\/a> the yearly carbon emissions from producing formula for six countries in the Asia Pacific region (Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, and South Korea) [4]. Researchers found that the amount of formula used was equivalent to using 325.5 million gallons of gasoline, and would take 2.37 million acres of U.S. forests one year to offset.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, formula has environmental costs well beyond its production. Formula must be transported to stores for purchasing, and requires parents to sterilize bottles and water\u2014all of which requires energy that produces carbon emissions. Then the packaging must be disposed of, and in the United States alone<\/a>, an estimated 550 million infant fo<\/a>r<\/a>mula<\/a> cans are added to landfills each year [3]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Breastfeeding is eco-friendly because it’s hyperlocal and zero waste. Even when the production of food nursing mothers consume to get their extra 500 recommended calories\/day is accounted for, breastfeeding still yields a considerably smaller carbon footprint than formula, evidence shows<\/a> [5]. You may already know that the extra fat your body stored during pregnancy can later be tapped to make breast milk, and relying on these fat stores (rather than consuming so many extra calories) may be appealing if weight loss is top of mind. While your breas<\/a>tmi<\/a>lk will always<\/em> contain enough of certain nutrients<\/a> (like protein and folate) to meet your baby\u2019s needs\u2014even if your own protein and folate stores become clinically deficient in the process\u2014your breastmilk will only<\/em> contain adequate amounts of certain other nutrients (like Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and B12, vitamins A,D and K) if you yourself take in enough of those nutrients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, simply planning on your body converting fat stores into pregnancy to produce breastmilk is inadequate, because it fails to account for your and your baby\u2019s other nutritional needs now. In order to get the health benefits of breastfeeding (and, in turn, the cost savings and decreased expenditure of human and material resources needed to address health problems that breastfeeding helps prevent), extra caloric consumption is necessary. Consult a registered dietitian (and check out Lily Nichols\u2019 book, Real Food in Pregnancy<\/em>, which we covered h<\/a>ere<\/a>) for more specific recommendations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the growing environmental impact of formula, researchers from the United Kingdom penned an edit<\/a>o<\/a>rial<\/a> arguing for the need to better support breastfeeding mothers [2]. In the editorial, they explained that if mothers in just the United Kingdom breastfed their babies for 6 months, it would be the environment-protective equivalent of removing as many as 77,500 cars from the road each year<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It bears repeating that breastfeeding is<\/em> hard<\/em>. It can be painful (though this is a sign that something is wrong and needs to be addressed, not a normal finding!), time-consuming, emotionally and physically draining, and may feel overwhelming at times, especially for first-time mothers. Without adequate support from family, friends, employers, and healthcare providers, breastfeeding may simply not be possible, (and in some rare medical instances, such as with insufficient glan<\/a>dul<\/a>ar tissue<\/a>, it might be impossible to breastfeed). The purpose of this article isn\u2019t to judge anyone\u2019s choice to breastfeed or not, or to shame those who are unable to breastfeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The purpose, rather, is to point out that there are real health benefits for moms who breastfeed and for their babies, and the environmental benefits of breastfeeding aren\u2019t negligible either, particularly compared to the production, transportation, and disposal costs of formula. Is its eco-friendly status the most convincing argument for breastfeeding? No, and furthermore, care for humans takes ultimate precedence over reduction of carbon emissions. Feeding a baby (whether with breastmilk or formula) is always the most important thing. <\/strong>The \u201cgreen\u201d aspects of breastfeeding are simply another component making a strong case for why \u201cbreast is best, unless,\u201d for moms and their babies.* <\/p>\n\n\n\n Breastfeeding is a best practice for infant nutrition and maternal health, and for this reason women need their partners, extended family, friends, employers, and healthcare teams to support them in this worthwhile task. Mom may be the one doing the feeding, but she cannot do it alone. She needs a village<\/a> to support her, as we covered in our postpartum guidebook series<\/a>. Her village may provide healthy, warming meals for her and her family, assist with the care of older children, rock her baby while she sleeps, run errands, clean her house, or assist with non-feeding tasks in countless other ways, freeing her up for the physically and emotionally demanding and<\/em> physically and emotionally rewarding<\/em> work of breastfeeding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n *Editor\u2019s note: Again, we recognize that there are a variety of reasons why women cannot breastfeed, or breastfeed exclusively, which can run the gamut from physical, to emotional\/psychological, to social (the fact that, on average, <\/em>one in four American women have<\/em><\/a> to return<\/a><\/em> to work at 2 weeks postpartum<\/em><\/a>, which is detrimental to their own health, let alone their ability to breastfeed, speaks volumes on the lack of support new mothers face in our country). No woman should be shamed for her inability to breastfeed, regardless of the reason why, and instead, we should all be <\/em>working towards a more just society<\/em><\/a> that allows every mother who desires to breastfeed her baby the opportunity to do so.\u00a0Such efforts would not only make for healthier moms and babies, but a healthier planet, too. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional Reading:<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to \u201cgreen\u201d your period, and why you might want to<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nHealth organization targets for breastfeeding aren\u2019t being met in the United States<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Benefits for babies and moms<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How infant formula may harm the environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Formula production costs<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Environmental costs of formula transportation, sterilization, and disposal<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Breastfeeding’s eco-friendly carbon footprint<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Breastfeeding moms need their village to rally around them<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n