Even though a family wasn't
yet on our radar, I knew
at some point I wanted to a) be a mother, b) continue working, and c)
feed my hypothetical baby
breast milk.
Our data agrees with that of others, 1223 that suggest that delaying the introduction of formula milk protects against the morbidity associated with respiratory infection, illness, and associated hospitalisations in the first year of life.24 Prolonged
breast feeding was only marginally associated with less respiratory illness when examined in a New Zealand birth cohort to 2 years of age, 25 and the Dundee study8 showed a small,
yet significant protective effect of
breast feeding against respiratory illness
at 0 — 13 weeks and 40 — 52 weeks after adjustment for social class, maternal age, and parental smoking.