Breastfeeding is not dirty.

At the end of Breastfeeding Awareness Week it is sad to know that less than 40 percent of infants worldwide are adequately breastfed. Since breast milk is essential in developing a baby's immune system and giving them the antibodies they need, which are not found in formula, more than 1 million infant mortalities every year could be avoided with breastfeeding.

What's even worse, or disgusting to me, is that people would discourage breastfeeding to suit their own personal comfort. A nursing mother is not worried about your own comfort, she is worried about that of her baby's. As an aunt to a 4 month old, I'm well aware and comfortable with the process of breastfeeding. That means I'm also aware of the social stigma some would attach to publicly breastfeeding and the worldwide misconceptions that WHO is trying to denounce through campaigns.

A mother's milk is full of antibodies that are absent in infant formula. The first few years of life are the most important developmentally, yet, the United States is still a far cry from protecting those influential years. If we want our nation to excel, how can we expect the next generation to succeed when we don't offer paid maternity leave, reassurance that new mothers won't lose their jobs, provide free ambulance rides for mothers in labor, or even just lift public support for nursing mothers? It is a fact that breastfed babies grow into healthy adults.

Support mothers who breastfeed. Reject the type of ignorance and stigma that our society attaches to this life-saving act. You can start here, by joining a petition against Facebook's ban on pictures of women breastfeeding. This is exactly the type of outrageous ignorance that WHO is trying to combat in developing nations, and yet, Facebook shows how ugly and self-concerned Americans can be. Change your own perspective, then that of others and save lives. It's that simple.