We like to call breast milk 'liquid gold'. Because in your newborn's first six months, breast milk will provide all the water and nutrients they need, it is the perfect package. Yet breast milk is so much more than that.
Babies who are breastfed suffer from less sickness and diarrhoea, and fewer ear and chest infections. The benefits also continue for mum, with women who breastfeed experiencing lower risks of breast cancer, some forms of ovarian cancer, and diabetes in later life.
Breastfeeding for six months reduces the likelihood of infections for at least a year, but there's no limit on how long women can breastfeed.