Unlike bottle-feeding, breast-feeding has long been known as more healthy for the baby. The time taken in the preparation of a bottle feed and the money invested in procuring such costly feed are saved easily if mothers stick to breast-feeding. So costly becomes the enterprise at times that a Yugoslav family would spend 70 percent of the household income toward breast-feed substitute in the first six months of a child's birth if it decides not to breast-feed the baby.

Money is also saved in medicare and hospitalisation due to better health condition observed in breast feed babies. Breast feed thus increases household food security; makes proper use of natural resources; helps preserve the environment by avoiding disposable bottles, cans and containers and saves foreign currency of a nation by not importing costly baby food from abroad.

In Bangladesh, research on the economic implication of breast-feeding is few and far between. In Pakistan, import of bottle feed formula alone had cost the exchequer $ 4 million in 1982-83. In the US, $ 8.5 million was spent in 1986-7. But the expense skyrocketed between July 1995 and April 1996 to $43.5 million.

Iran so far had shown the best example by increasing its rate of breast-feed from 10 per cent in 1991 to 53 per cent by 1996, saving $50 million annually from import of bottle feed formula. Research shows $450 to $800 is saved per child by the welfare and heath care departments if the child is breast-fed for six months. Australia says it can save Aus$11.5 million if its new-born are breast-fed for the initial three months.

Kaiser Permanente -- one of the largest Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) in the US -- found in a survey that the cost of bottle-feeding during the first year of a child is $1,435.00. Besides preserving heath and saving money, breast-feeding prevents childhood and infant diseases, saves health care cost, and gives enormous mental satisfaction to a mother. Breast-feeding's cumulative gain to a nation's economy is being researched in many countries and more and more mothers are resigning to accept it.

Dr. Janice Riordan of Wichita State University had conducted a research on the potential health care costs pertaining to diseases caused mainly by non-breast feeding of children and found that savings from expenses in infant diarrhea, respiratory virus, insulin dependent diabetics, and otitis media are, respectively, $630, $31, $72 and $660 million.

Another study shows the cost of treating diarrhea -- as a consequence of not having breast-feeding immunity -- is a staggering $291 million a year. Cost of treating other diseases borne out of non-breast feeding totals $995 million (respiratory virus $225 million, otitis media $660 million and insulin dependent diabetes $10 million)

Add to this a nation's saving from not importing Breast-Milk Substitute (BMS). According to Dr. Arun Gupta (BPNI, India), the market value of breast-milk would be Rs 59.16 billion if breast milk is valued at the cost of fresh animal milk (Rs 15 per litre). And, if replaced by canned milk at the cost of Rs 30 per litre, the value doubles to Rs 118.32 billion. Importing such a huge quantity would cost $4.7 million.

Currently, an Indian family spends Rs 1,100 per month on formula milk for each baby, which is 43 per cent of the minimum wage of a skilled urban worker, 25 per cent of the salary of class 1V employee and 12 per cent salary of a trained graduate teacher. One can purchase 220 kg of wheat, 40 dozens of orange or 50 kg of vegetable with that money.

Dr. Gupta maintains that the economic value of breast-feeding is equivalent to the expenses in the Department of Industry and Power and three times of what is spent on education, health, family welfare, science and technology.

Many worry about the mother's health if a child is breast fed. The extra calories needed by mother if the child is breast fed come from the extra fat and diet stored during pregnancy. Studies also show positive impacts of breast feeding on the intellectual development of the children and in furthering mother's overall happiness in life.

Quantifying breast milk as a valuable economic resource should be the very first step in motivating mothers to breast-feed their babies. While economic gains are no substitute for the expressions of love, bondage and affection, and sacrifice made by every mother, breast-feeding's main importance lay in its natural appeal to feed the child from the womb through the cradle to pre-school age.

The breast-feeding being healthy, economic and love generating, all attempts must be made to promote this habit.

Dr. Riffat Hossain Lucy is Asst. Co-ordinator (BCC and Advocacy) of Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation.