Is it islamic duty of a wife to breast feed a child if she can? is it by choice or required? what is the duration of it incase its required as right of a child

Alhamdu Lillah

Breastfeeding is an intrinsic nature that Allah SWT instilled in mammals. Female animals breastfeed their babies naturally and without being instructed by anyone.  Breastfeeding strengthens the maternal relationship between the mother and the infant. It is what is expected from each mother who loves and cares about her child. It has a lot medical and health benefits. More than that, Breastfeeding is the practice of all people of different religions and different cultures and through different eras.

From a Fiqh perspective; Muslim mothers are not obligated to breastfeed their kids as long as there is another healthy and affordable alternative. The husband should not enforce his wife to suckle her child, nor should be angry with her if she does not like to it. The saying of Allah SWT, what means in English (Mothers suckle their children for two full years for such as desire to fulfill the suckling. It is for the father to provide them and clothe them honorably), does not indicate any command on women to suckle their kids, rather it describes what they usually do, and according to some scholars, it indicates the priority of of the divorced mothers to suckle their kids upon an agreement with their ex-husbands, and for a compensation too.