The entire month of August is World Breastfeeding Month and Friday concludes World Breastfeeding Week. This year's theme is Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response. Are you Ready? Rose Straeter from the Marion County Health Department explains the importance of the week.

"It goes back to the education.  In order for people to make a decision as to how they want to feed their baby, they need to have the facts that breastmilk is different from artificial milk and much healthier for the baby," Straeter said.

A 2005 American Academy of Pediatrics report recommends infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months and then for at least another six months in addition to other foods. Straeter said the Health Department regularly offers breastfeeding classes and notes one-on-one counseling appointments can be made.