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Breastfeeding

General information

Breastfeed Longer: Every Month Matters!

Each additional month of breastfeeding helps create a stronger and healthier future for you and your baby.

Better for Your Baby

  • Protects your baby from obesity
  • Lowers the risk of your baby developing allergies
  • Easy to digest and full of the nutrients your baby needs
  • Protects your baby from getting sick and helps prevent ear infections
  • Lowers your baby’s risk of having diabetes, asthma and cancer

Better for You

  • Helps you lose weight – breastfeeding burns 500-700 calories a day
  • Protects you from iron deficiency and helps you feel stronger
  • Reduces your risk of getting cancer, including breast, uterine, ovarian and endometrial cancers
  • Reduces your risk of osteoporosis
  • Saves you hundreds of dollars that you would have to spend on formula

10 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Baby

  1. Breast milk is your baby’s perfect food. It has all the right nutrients, in just the right amounts.
  2. Breast milk is always ready.
  3. Breast milk is constantly changing to meet the needs of your growing baby.
  4. Breastfed babies don’t have as many earaches and allergies as babies who are fed formula.
  5. Breastfed babies are sick less often than formula-fed babies.
  6. Breastfed babies have less diarrhea and stomach trouble because breast milk is so easy to digest.
  7. Breastfeeding helps you feel close to your baby.
  8. Breastfeeding is free food for your baby.
  9. Breastfeeding is easier because there is nothing to carry, measure or heat. It makes nighttime feedings and traveling with the baby much easier.
  10. Breastfeeding helps you get back in shape and helps shrink the uterus back to its normal size.

General Information

La Leche League International
  • Find local breastfeeding support and healthcare providers
  • Legal information for breastfeeding moms
  • General information
kellymom
  • Personal and professional education materials
  • Parent forum
  • Reviews on breastfeeding books and supplies
Nursing Mothers Counsel (NMC)
  • Free over-the-phone assistance and home visits
  • womenshealth.gov
  • Women’s health information
  • Information about the benefits of breastfeeding
  • Links to additional resources and information

Your Right to Breastfeed: Laws and Regulations

The State of California requires that your employer support your breastfeeding when you return to work by giving you:

  • Time: You must be given unpaid break time to pump, or provide flexible work hours so that you are able to continue breastfeeding.
  • Space: A comfortable, clean and private space must be available for you to pump and store breast milk at work, or your employer must provide child care nearby so you can breastfeed during break and lunch.

If you do not have time or space to continue breastfeeding after you go back to work, talk with your employer about your rights. If your employer does not allow you to breastfeed during your work day, call 1-800-884-1684 to file a claim with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

For more information about your rights, visit www.breastfeedingworks.org

La Leche League International

  • Breastfeeding legislation information
  • Breastfeeding in the workplace
  • Breastfeeding in public
  • Breastfeeding and family law
  • Breastfeeding and jury duty