Life-time burden and costs of not breastfeeding in the US

Background: Breastfeeding intervention could save up to 15% of the preventable child deaths worldwide. A study carried out in Brazil concluded that increases in exclusive breastfeeding could reduce the burden of disease for approximately $2 to $4 per DALY. However, in the US both the cost of supporting breastfeeding and the cost of treating the diseases that result from lack of optimal feeding are higher. This study builds on earlier work and examines the costs, benefits, effectiveness and DALYs saved if exclusive breastfeeding were fully supported in the US. Methods: Available data on breastfeeding rates and excess disease risk associated with less than optimal feeding are used to calculate disease burden. Standard CEA and CBA approaches used. DALYs are calculated for specific causes of death (e.g., NEC, pneumonia, SIDS) and adjusted to reflect current exclusive breastfeeding rates to assess possible reductions. Cost estimates will include cost of providing breastfeeding support as well as the reduced costs of treatment of the excess cases of specific diseases (e.g., diabetes, specific cancers). Findings: We expect that the ongoing update of the previous study will find increased impact: the preliminary finding is a potential savings due to reduced treatment expense of $1.50 to $2.00 for every dollar invested in breastfeeding support in maternity care and counseling, and some paid maternity leave. Discussion: It is important to translate these projected savings into policy and program change at the national level. Conclusions: It would be very cost beneficial for the US to fully support breastfeeding.