“It is not understanding that destroys wonder, it is familiarity.” (John Stuart Mill, 1865)

Breastfeeding is the single-most effective intervention to prevent infant and child mortality. It also profoundly influences early health and child development and improves school attainment. The relevance of breastfeeding to all populations is further highlighted by the growing number of premature adult deaths due to noncommunicable diseases and the potential for breastfeeding to mitigate these risks. Additionally, analyses demonstrate the value of breastfeeding for the health of women
through reducing the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

New research is also helping to explain and provide a biological plausibility for these outcomes and to estimate the economic gains associated with breastfeeding. Yet, despite these benefits, rates of exclusive and continued breastfeeding have not changed substantially over the past 20 years.

Systematic reviews demonstrate that breastfeeding practices are highly responsive to interventions. When health systems and communities coordinate efforts, rates of exclusive and continued breastfeeding increase more than when interventions are delivered through one approach only; country examples also show that these improvements can occur at scale. However, the financial interests and influence of the breastmilk substitute industry undermine normative values towards breastfeeding and the infant feeding practices of individual mothers, and interventions to redress these influences are extremely challenging.

Improving breastfeeding practices at population-level requires governments, health professionals, employers, communities and families to accept a shared responsibility for protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding and enabling mothers to feed their infants and young children as they would choose.