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

Better for You

• Helps you get back to pre-pregnancy weight.
• Reduces your risk of developing reproductive cancers like, breast, uterine & ovarian cancers.
• Reduces your risk of developing osteoporosis.
• Reduces the risk of developing Type II Diabetes after Gestational Diabetes.
• Reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

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 and at the perfect temperature.
3. Breast milk is constantly changing to meet the needs of your growing baby.
4. Breastfed babies have stronger immune system and get sick less often.
5. Breastfed babies have less intestinal infections.
6.  Breast milk is easier to digest.
7. Breastfeeding helps you feel close to your baby.
8. Breastfeeding is free.
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.

Additional Resources and Information

La Leche League International

• Find local breastfeeding support and healthcare providers
• Legal information for breastfeeding moms
• General information

Nursing Mothers Counsel (NMC)

• Free over-the-phone assistance and home visits
• 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: Your employer must provide you with reasonable break times to extract your breastmilk during your workday. 
• Space: A comfortable, clean and private space for you to extract your breastmilk close to your work area. 

If you do not have time or space to extract your breastmilk after you go back to work, talk with your employer about your rights. If your employer does not allow you to breastfeed during your workday, 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 Lactation Rights – California Breastfeeding Coalition and www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding.