A primary goal of the American Academy of Pediatrics is to encourage optimal infant nutrition through the promotion of breast-feeding, stressing the superiority of human milk and the proper use of nutritionally appropriate breast milk substitutes for infants who cannot be breast-fed. To reach this goal, there are four major objectives of perinatal care: (1) A woman should have the opportunity prior to the time of delivery to make a fully informed decision to breast-feed or not to breast-feed her infant. (2) Health care providers should be knowledgeable about breast-feeding and work to provide surroundings, personnel, and information that encourage mothers to breast-feed. (3) The breast-feeding mother should be supported by her physician, by hospital personnel and practices, and by work-place practices. (4) Any routine professional, institutional, or commercial practices that tend to discourage breast-feeding should be opposed.