Breastfeeding provides the best possible nutrition for babies, and offers many other benefits, including:
- Easier to digest than formula
- Antibodies that help to protect against viruses and bacteria
- Reduced risk of developing allergies and asthma
- Fewer ear infections
- Reduced likelihood of developing diabetes or becoming obese later in life
Moms who breastfeed also enjoy benefits because breastfeeding:
- Burns calories, helping moms to return to pre-pregnancy weight
- Releases oxytocin (a hormone that encourages the uterus to shrink and can reduce bleeding after delivery)
- Decreases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and osteoporosis later in life
- Saves time and money (eliminates the need to purchase and prepare formula, fewer doctor bills and medication costs)
What to Expect
Breastfeeding should be comfortable, not painful. If breastfeeding hurts, ask for help from these Community Breastfeeding Resources.
Minnesota Laws Protecting Breastfeeding
- Minnesota employers (with one or more employees) must provide reasonable, unpaid break time and a private space for a nursing mother to express breast milk when at work. The private space cannot be a bathroom, and should include access to an electrical outlet.
- Minnesota law allows a mother to breastfeed in any location – public or private – where the mother and child are allowed to be. A mother may breastfeed anywhere even if the nipple or breast is uncovered while breastfeeding. Breastfeeding in public is not a violation of Minnesota’s indecent exposure laws.
Review this fact sheet for more details.