Babies who are breastfed live healthier lives, a medical specialist said this week.

Paediatrician Dr. Jack Newman, an expert on breastfeeding, said the benefits of breastfeeding included lower risk of gut, ear and respiratory tract infections. Allergies are also less common and incidents of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome are lower.

Mothers also gain advantages from breastfeeding their babies. Aside from bonding with their children, Dr. Newman said the chances of breast, ovarian and uterine cancer are reduced.

Dr. Newman, who made the comments after a public forum on breastfeeding at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital last Thursday, is the director of the Breastfeeding Support Programme at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.

The objective of the forum was to dispel myths about breastfeeding and to answer any questions.

"I wanted mainly to impress upon physicians that breastfeeding should almost always work,'' said Dr. Newman.

There is a specific technique for breastfeeding and if mothers are shown how to do it in the beginning, "vast'' problems can be avoided, he said, adding that doctors did not know enough about the subject.

Dr. Newman, for example, said he was a paediatrician who did not receive any formal training on breastfeeding.

"I was given useful information, but it was not initiated formally into the curriculum,'' he said.

He said the lack of useful information was typical of doctors in Canada and probably all around the world.

It was only after working in Africa that Dr. Newman realised the importance of breastfeeding. In countries where malnutrition is common, he said breastfeeding can be a matter of "life and death'' for some babies.

Dr. Newman said he did not want to push mother's into breastfeeding -- it is not for everyone. But he said women should be fully informed about its benefits and that they should try it out first. Only then can they make an informed decision whether or not to continue.

However, he advises that baby formula is different from breastmilk and they should not be treated as the same.

Dr. Jack Newman.