By Rebekah Scroggy, RN BSN IBCLC
If you've ever heard someone say, "Breastfeeding saves so much money!", they’re not wrong—formula is expensive! But what that statement often leaves out is the time, energy, sweat, and tears that go into breastfeeding. The impact of breastfeeding extends far beyond just saving a few dollars; it has huge economic, environmental, and healthcare implications that most people don’t even realize.
Breastfeeding & The Economy
Recently, the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) spoke before the World Health Organization (WHO) to advocate for breastfeeding to be included in climate change and health action plans. Their research highlights how breastfeeding affects the economy in four major ways:
1. The Monetary Value of Breastfeeding Labor
Let’s do some quick math. If a breastfeeding parent feeds their baby every 3 hours for about 30 minutes per session (which, let’s be honest, can vary wildly), that adds up to 1,460 hours a year spent breastfeeding. A full-time job with three weeks of paid time off and federal holidays equals 1,872 hours a year. Mind-blowing, right? That’s nearly a full-time job’s worth of labor that often goes completely unrecognized in economic discussions.
2. Decreasing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Breastfeeding isn’t just about health—it’s about sustainability, too! Infant and follow-up formula production creates significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In China alone, formula production in 2019 generated emissions equivalent to 18 billion miles of car travel! (Pope et al., 2021). Now imagine the global impact. Choosing to breastfeed—when possible—reduces this footprint significantly.
3. Lower Healthcare Costs
One of the superpowers of breastmilk is its immunological benefits. It helps protect babies from necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), asthma, ear infections, stomach bugs, and even obesity. And for the breastfeeding parent, the benefits are just as impressive—lower risks of breast and ovarian cancer, postpartum depression, and improved heart health. While formula is nutritionally complete, it cannot replicate these immune-boosting properties, meaning that increased breastfeeding rates can reduce healthcare costs and ease the burden on medical systems.
4. Water & Resource Consumption
Have you ever thought about the water footprint of feeding a baby? If you’re sanitizing bottles, washing pump parts, and preparing formula, you’re using more water than you might realize. Research shows that producing just one kilogram of commercial formula generates 11–14 kg of greenhouse gases and requires over 5,000 liters of water throughout its lifecycle. Breastfeeding, on the other hand, is a renewable, low-impact food source that doesn’t require extra packaging, processing, or disposal.
Final Thoughts
Even as an IBCLC, some of this information surprised me! The impact of breastfeeding reaches so much further than just personal finances—it’s an economic, environmental, and healthcare game-changer. Did any of these facts surprise you? Let me know in the comments!
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