If you aren't sure how you will feed your newborn, take a look at the facts. Breast milk is the most nutritious, provides bonding opportunities, and the still unknown ingredients are unmatchable in commercial formulas.

Extensive pediatric research and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that mothers give babies their own breast milk for at least the first twelve months of baby's life. There are many other reasons found by doctors and researchers to breastfeed your child of which you may be unaware. Here are, according to the women at ProMom, the top 20 (if you visit their site, they have 101.).

The American Academy of Pediatrics. A leader in the field of child wellness and research, the AAP has sent out an official statement recommending mothers to breastfeed their babies: "Human milk is the preferred feeding for all infants, including premature and sick newborns...It is recommended that breastfeeding continue for at least the first 12 months, and thereafter as long as mutually desired." If that's not a reason...

Breastfeeding will bring you closer to your baby. According to researchers Unvas-Moberg and Eriksson of Acta Paidiatrica, the hormone in a woman's body that causes contractions and the ejection of breast milk, called oxytocin, encourages the maternal instinct and bonding between mother and child.

Baby's emotionally sound. Studies show that premature infants who are not held or cuddled have a greater chance of dying. Even when baby is old enough to hold a bottle on his own, nothing replaces the touch of the mother. Breastfeeding feeds your baby emotionally as well as nutritionally.

No other milk is perfectly nutritious. According to the AAP, no formula on earth can compare to the human milk designed solely for our species. Breast milk provides the perfect amount of nutrients for your baby to encourage proper growth, development, and long-range wellness.

Breastfeeding decreases mother's chances of breast cancer. Research has shown that women who lactate for longer than 24 months show a decreased rate of developing premenopausal breast cancer, with results showing up to 25 percent less risk. The younger you are when you first lactate also decreases your cancer risk.

Baby girls fed formula show increase in developing breast cancer. Women who were not breast fed as infants have a greater likelihood of developing breast cancer as adults, both pre and postmenopausal. Women who were breastfed for any length of time as children have up to a 25% lower risk of breast cancer later in life.

Breasfed children shown to have higher I.Q.s. Researchers for Pediatrics Horwood and Furgusson found through a New Zealand study that children who were breastfed had both higher intelligence and more academic achievement than children who weren't.

Shorter prep time, better package. The women at ProMom have a point: not only is breast milk always ready for consumption, the package is decidedly prettier.

Colostrum passes meconium. The early milk a mother produces, called Colustrum, is designed to pass meconium (a sticky substance in the intestines of newborn babies) through the baby's body.

Immune system strengh. Not only does breast milk strengthen baby's immune system, but also contains immunities to diseases.

Breast milk is easier to digest. Breast milk is easier for babies to digest than infant formula or cow's milk (the base for most infant formulas). Although cow's milk has more protien, more available protien exists in mother's milk, uniquely designed to perfectly nourish your child. Over half of cow's milk protien leaves baby's body as waste, while all of the protien, iron, and zinc from breast milk are absorbed by the infant.

Breastfeed and get your figure back. According to doctors, suckling shrinks your uterus much more quickly than not, so nursing your child will help you regain your figure in less time. In addition, not breastfeeding your child will prevent your uterus from ever shrinking back to its original size.

Breastfeeding prevents post-partum hemorrage. Oxytocin, a bodily substance that stimulates the shrinking of the uterus, is released naturally when a mother nurses. The oxytocin literally stimulates contractions to help shrink the uterus back to its original size. The contractions shut off blood vessels that were once feeding the baby, lowering excessive bleeding. Artificial oxytocin must be taken by women who do not breastfeed to prevent hemorraging.

Lose your pregnancy weight by nursing. Yes, it's true. According to researchers, breastfeeding your child requires an extra 500 calories a day, so nursing helps you burn, burn, burn. Mothers who breastfed partially or entirely revisited their prepregnancy weight faster than those who fed their babies formula.

Our bodies are designed to feed preemies. Georgetown University Medical Center has shown that women who birth premature babies produce milk that is different than that produced at full-term. It contains a special kind of nutrition and has similar qualities to colostrum, the first milk mother produces with a full-term child.

Both World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend nursing. Both organizations stress the benefits of physical and emotional bonding breastfeeding offers both mothers and children. Also, mother-milk's anti-infective properties decrease chances of disease in infants, a property that formula is unable to replicate.

Chances of infant Chrohn's disease decreased by nursing. Intestinal disorder Chrohn's disease develops less often in babies that are breastfed, along with childhood ulcerative colitis.

Type I (juvenlie, insulin-dependent) diabetes is found more often in formula-fed children. Finnish research shows that children who were exposed to dairy and cow's milk at an early age had an increased risk of developing diabetes. Cow's milk and dairy products are leave antibodies in children's systems, which is independently linked with insulin-dependent diabetes.

Diabetic mothers decrease insulin requirements by nursing. British Medical Journal found that diabetic women who breastfed requried less insulin postpartum than those who used formula.

Endometriosis.The progress of maternal endometriosis is stabilized by breastfeeding.