Materials and Methods: Internet databases of scientific literature were screened for publications that involved breastfeeding affecting speech, language and cognitive development in childhood. Hard copies of related scientific journals from
1984 onward were also used for relevant topics and the authors, making use of reference lists of publications, and citation searches. Only original research articles were used in this study. Results: Fourteen studies were included in this review – a case-control study and thirteen longitudinal studies. Most studies demonstrated that breastfeeding affects language and cognitive development. However, the effect of breastfeeding on cognitive development is controversial. Conclusion: It was concluded that breastfeeding influences language development consistently, but cognitive development was inconclusive.