Good question, Marianne.  The words are different in meaning but close in spirit.  Whether we  speak of "benefits" or "advantages" of breastfeeding the assumption is that something else (artificial feeding) is the norm.  So neither word would truly please you!

My fallback phrase is "the importance of breastfeeding."  I hear this as assuming breastfeeding is the norm, and stressing the importance of that norm.  I like to talk about why ordinary things (like breathing and breastfeeding) are important.

Susan Johnson MFA, IBCLC, RLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Of course, I fully agree with poster form earlier today, about the =
nonsense of doubting whether bf is *the* food for human babies.
I just started a module again from the research course and came across a =
definition.
"Benefit is the reduction of risk (of illness, death, pain, =
disability)." Put this way, we can say breastfeeding has benefits.
It's a nice word, 'benefits'. I don't feel we have a Dutch
synonym, =
because those all tend to go in the direction of 'advantages'.
Do you all, as native speaker, feel there is difference between benefits =
and advantages?
Do I perceive this difference correctly or is it one and the same...?

Warmly,

Marianne Vanderveen IBCLC, Netherlands



      

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