QUEBEC TO PAY MOTHERS TO BREAST-FEED
In a sharp departure from the traditional role of government, Quebec pays mothers to nurse their infants ... Since breast-fed babies tend to be healthier babies, encouraging nursing could ultimately save the publicly financed health care system millions of dollars a year.
Quebec has paid supplements to nursing mothers and subsidized the cost of some infant formula for the last quarter-century. What is newand highly appreciated by nursing mothers on low incomesis the policy shift in favor of breast milk. When the cash incentive for breast-feeding rose to $37.50 a month, the subsidy for formula was reduced.
... To prevent abuses, the ministry requires that a new mother present an affidavit from her doctor to the local office of the Income Security Ministry that confirms that she is nursing.




