ABSTRACT
The promotion of breastfeeding has become a world-wide major emphasis in the last decade, with rates of initiation rising to over 72% in the USA and much higher in some European countries. This support is based on a massive amount of new data showing that breastfed infants benefit enormously from breastfeeding including major reductions in infectious disease, lower rates of gastrointestinal disease, anaemia, upper respiratory tract infections, otitis media, sudden infant death syndrome, necrotizing enterocolitis, and significantly enhanced neurocognitive development.1-5 While the number of women who breastfeed has increased significantly, so too has the recognition of the incidence of major depression in postpartum breastfeeding women.
