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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

National Breastfeeding Month Is Here

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Monday, August 4, 2014   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – August is National Breastfeeding Month, which has supporters touting the benefits of mother's milk, often called "nature's perfect baby food."

Marian Tompson, who founded the organization La Leche League, says mothers who are able to breastfeed can reduce their risk for diabetes, cardiovascular conditions and some forms of cancer. For the baby, she says, there are a variety of health benefits as well, including as a stronger immune system, better motor development and fewer allergies.

"There have been thousands of studies during the past 50 years that confirm babies are healthier when they're breastfed," says Tompson. "And it makes sense, because they're getting the food that was meant for their growth and development."

When La Lache League was created in the 1950s, Tompson recalls, fewer than one in five mothers started out breastfeeding her baby. Today that figure is 79 percent.

While more mothers are starting with breastfeeding and nursing infants longer on average, Tompson believes there are still too many women who quit in those first weeks or months, often because they must return to work and are separated from their babies.

"I think our culture could do things to make it a little easier for those women – with flex-time, with allowing them to have a baby close by where they could get over to nurse," Tompson says. "And I think we have to appreciate how important breastfeeding is to us all before we'll see a lot of those changes."

She adds one initiative already having a positive impact is the growing number of U.S. hospitals that are gaining certification as breastfeeding-friendly. There are now nearly 200 of them across 44 states.



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