Making the choice to breastfeed your new baby is one of the most important and far-reaching decisions you will make as a new mother. Both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend breastfeeding as the preferred method of infant nutrition for the first year of life.

The current AAP breastfeeding policy states,"Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding and is species-specific; all substitute feeding options differ markedly from it." Why?

As acknowledged by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the exact chemical make-up of breast milk remains unknown and cannot be duplicated. Each year, synthetic baby milks are found to be nutritionally deficient as scientists expand their knowledge of human milk.

Some of the known benefits of breastfeeding are:

* Breastfeeding is your baby