Breastfeeding reduces risk of cot death by third: study

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Breastfeeding a baby can reduce the risk of cot death by a third, a new study released on Wednesday by a British charity has found.

Research released by the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) found that breastfed babies, even those who were partly breastfed, were one-third less likely to die as a cot death than babies who were never breastfed.

The study, a meta-analysis comprising the results of 27 different studies conducted since 1965, examined the relationship between breastfeeding and cot death in the developed world.

It was made public at the start of FSID's Save a Baby month, a month-long campaign aimed at raising awareness about cot death which runs throughout May.

SIDS -- the sudden unexplained death of an infant...