(1) The Legislature of the State of Mississippi acknowledges that extensive research demonstrates the wide-ranging and compelling benefits of breast-feeding for infants, mothers, families and communities, including:

(a) Numerous health benefits to the child, such as lower incidences of SIDS, childhood obesity, asthma, allergies and diabetes as well as increased intelligence and parental attachment;

(b) Numerous health benefits to the mother, such as decreased rates of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, postpartum hemorrhage, and reduced rates of obesity through increased postpartum weight loss; and

(c) Significant economic and social benefits to the state, such as reduced health care costs, and reduced employee absenteeism for care attributable to child illness as well as direct saving to families, as the United States Surgeon General estimates that the average family can save between One Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($1,200.00) and One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) during a baby’s first year of life through breast-feeding.

(2) The Legislature also recognizes, despite these numerous benefits, that Mississippi has one of the lowest breast-feeding rates in the country and acknowledges that mothers in Mississippi face many barriers to breast-feeding. One (1) of these barriers is education, which many studies and reports have found to be a significant obstacle that inhibits the practice of breast-feeding. Many mothers are ill-informed about the benefits of breast-feeding and their rights as a breast-feeding mother.

(3) Therefore, the Legislature declares the intent of this chapter is to inform mothers about the benefits of breast-feeding and their rights as a breast-feeding mother in order to promote increased rates of breast-feeding in Mississippi.