ABSTRACT
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health, and cultural rights of children. Nations that ratify this convention are bound to it by international law, with compliance monitored by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, composed of members from countries around the world. In the United States, current policy is mixed on this subject. While physicians tend to recommend breastfeeding in light of recent studies and statistics, certain laws are less supportive, particularly of longer-term breastfeeding. Modern culture in the United States and some other modern industrialized societies, based in part on the nation's laws and policies, supports and promotes women's return to the workforce quickly after their infant's births. Animal studies have shown that infants who stay close to their mothers have higher levels of growth hormones and enzymes necessary for brain and heart growth.
