Presentation Information

Lactation by the Numbers: Calculating the Value of Human Milk

• Speaker: Nikki Lee , RN, BSN, MS, ANLC, IBCLC, CIMI, RHT500
• Presentation Type:
• Duration: 60 Mins
• Credits:

Abstract:

Human milk is a renewable and sustainable resource that is not considered in any country's Gross National Product (GNP) nor Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If something isn't seen by policy makers, it isn't valued. It becomes invisible.

Research shows us that breastfeeding reduces the incidence of both acute and chronic disease, thus saving healthcare dollars. Breastfeeding should "be considered a carbon offset in global financing arrangements for sustainable food, health and economic systems." However, cost savings never show up in budgets. How do we make the invisible visible? One way is for breastfeeding activists to speak the language of economics and money.

We can use simple math to calculate the value of human milk. That figure can be used locally, in counties and provinces, regions and states, and in countries. Breastfeeding advocates can speak in the language of currency, to attract the attention of legislators and policy makers.

This presentation will flip the economic discourse to show how much commercial milk formula costs, and to demonstrate how to use simple math, (using the current price of an ounce of banked donor milk and local breastfeeding statistics) to come up with a figure that represents the value of one of the world's most valuable resources, human milk.