Williams, P. P., Washio, Y., Myers, B., Jaspan, H., Browne, F. A., Wechsberg, W. M., & Parry, C. (2020). Cannabis use and breastfeeding: Do we know enough?South African Journal of Psychology, 50(1), 7-10. Article 0081246319893934. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246319893934
Breastfeeding has a multitude of health benefits. It decreases infants’ risks for various health conditions such as mortality in the first 6 months of life (NEOVITA Study Group, 2016), Type 1 and 2 diabetes (Gouveri et al., 2011; Ip et al., 2007), diarrhea (Chapman et al., 2010), obesity (Owen et al., 2005), gastrointestinal illness (Howie et al., 1990; Ip et al., 2007), childhood cancer (Mathur et al., 1993), otitis media, and respiratory infections (Ip et al., 2007; Patel et al., 2015). Many benefits of breastfeeding last throughout a child’s life. Breastfeeding beyond 6 months of age is also associated with lower risk of childhood leukemia (Amitay & Keinan-Boker, 2015) and may contribute to higher IQ in girls (von Stumm & Plomin, 2015). Furthermore, a National Maternal and Infant Health Survey in the United States showed that breastfed infants were less likely to die during the post-neonatal phase than infants receiving human milk substitutes (Chen & Rogan, 2004). Breastfeeding mothers also have lower risk of breast cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes (Agency for Health care Research and Quality, 2018). Consequently, breastfeeding results in reduction in infant mortality and morbidity, improvements for maternal health, and could save an estimated 820,000 children every year (World Health Organization [WHO], 2017)—making it a vital public health strategy for promoting maternal and infant health. As such, WHO (2018) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of an infant’s life, and thereafter any breastfeeding with complimentary feeding up to 24 months.
