The money spent on healthcare that could be saved by getting more women to breastfeed their babies may be enormous. Promoting and supporting breastfeeding would also give both mothers and babies significant health benefits.
A British study looked at the incidence and costs of treating three diseases in children, one condition in premature infants, and breast cancer in women. Several studies have shown that risks of these diseases-gastrointestinal infections, lower respiratory tract infections, acute ear infections in children and necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants-and of breast cancer could be reduced if more women breastfed their babies.
The researchers found that:
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If all premature infants were exclusively breastfed when they left the hospital, there would be a savings of £7.4 million ($11.6 million) yearly in treating necrotizing enterocolitis.
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If the number of mothers who breastfed exclusively for four months increased from 7% to 21%, hospital costs for gastrointestinal illnesses would go down by £1.2 million ($1.9 million) yearly and there would be savings of £2 million ($3.14 million) per year in hospitalizations and £300,000 ($471,250) in doctor costs for ear infections.
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If the number of mothers who breastfed for 7 to 18 months doubled, the United Kingdom would save £31 million ($49 million) in the costs of treating breast cancer.
The percentage of women in the United Kingdom who breastfeed has gone up in the past 20 years, from 62% to 81%, but only half of mothers who breastfeed keep it up longer than 6 weeks.
The study estimated the annual costs of treating gastrointestinal, respiratory, and ear infections and necrotizing enterocolitis to be £89 million ($140 million). The study also estimated the lifetime costs of treating maternal breast cancer to be £959 million ($1.5 billion).
The cost of baby formula and breast milk substitutes also adds up to about £13 ($20) per week in the United Kingdom.
