Science tells us that breastfeeding and breastmilk provide all the nutrients and antibodies to give babies the very best start, with health benefits for babies and mothers.

As the backbone of early nutrition, breastfeeding is a key influence on adult health, intellect and longevity. Research shows that people who were breastfed as babies are less likely to be overweight or obese, are less prone to diabetes, and perform better in intelligence tests.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that every child should be exclusively breastfed for six months, with partial breastfeeding continuing until two years of age. Yet of the 136 million births worldwide each year, it is estimated that only 38 per cent of babies are breastfed for six months.

In Australia there are more than 300,000 births each year, but only 14 per cent of women exclusively breastfeed to around six months.

Born to Breastfeed fills the information gap. Taking the baby's perspective, it draws on uptodate, evidencebased research and midwifery practices during pregnancy, birth and postnatal care, explaining how mothers can respond to baby's actions and needs to improve the health of future generations.