Breastfeeding and child cognitive outcomes: Evidence from a hospital-based breastfeeding support policy

Arbeitspapier

This paper estimates the causal effects of breastfeeding on early child development using exogenous variation in breastfeeding support policies across UK maternity hospitals. Based on data from the Millennium Cohort Study, we find that mothers giving birth in hospitals where such policies are implemented are between 8 and 9 percentage points more likely to breastfeed exclusively at 4 and 8 weeks than mothers who give birth in other hospitals. The effect of breastfeeding are found to be large and positive on many different measures of child cognitive development throughout early childhood. In contrast to the previous literature, we find no statistically significant impact of breastfeeding on a number of health outcomes, but we see an improvement in child emotional development and maternal mental health.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ISER Working Paper Series ; No. 2012-29

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Single Equation Models: Single Variables: Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation ; Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
• Subject: breastfeeding ; child outcomes ; hospital policies ; instrumental variables

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Del Bono, Emilia ; Rabe, Birgitta
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)
• (where): Colchester
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/91672
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET