Breastfeeding Saves Lives, Prevents Illness, And Promotes Optimum Development
Expressing your milk is something you can do if you find yourself unable to breastfeed your when you want to. Working mothers who wish to continue to feed their babies breast milk have no other option but to express their milk and store it for later use. But first, take full advantage of your maternity leave to establish a good supply of milk before going back to work.
Policy makers are increasingly recognizing that breastfeeding promotion efforts can reduce health care costs that enhance maternal and infant well being. This is a complete reverse of what was taught previous generations of mothers and the process to re-educate the public is proving arduous. Human milk remains the single most important nutritional and bio active substance available to the neonate. Formula milk doesn’t come close to the benefits provided by breast milk. Breastfeeding also remains the first and best way to form a secure bond between mother and child, nurturing communication and emotional development. While many women in the Western world initiate breastfeeding, too few women continue breastfeeding after the first few weeks.
Breastfeeding Saves Lives and Reduces Illness
Significantly lower rates of diarrhea, ear infections, lower respiratory illness, and childhood lymphomas occur among breastfed infants and children in the West. Breastfeeding has also been reported to protect against necrotizing enterocolitis, bacteremia, meningitis, botulism, sudden infant death syndrome, urinary tract infection, early childhood caries, juvenile diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease. Health care costs to federal and state governments, and private healthcare systems because of NOT breastfeeding run into billions of dollars.
Breastfeeding Fosters Optimum Cognitive Development
Research has determined that a child’s first three years are the most critical in brain development. "Nutritional programming" is the concept that nutrition during these critical periods in early growth and development permanently affects the structure and function of organs and tissues.
For a child, optimal nutrition starts in utero and continues with breastfeeding, often called the "fourth trimester." Through thousands of years, human milk has been tailored to meet the challenging needs of the human infant and child; all substitute feeding options differ markedly from it.
The mixture of nutritional factors and growth hormones in human milk has been linked to enhanced cognitive development. In fact, a recent long term study of 1000 children found breastfed children had consistent and statistically significant increases in:
• intelligence quotient (IQ) at age 8 and 9 years of age;
• reading comprehension, mathematical ability, and scholastic ability assessed during the period from 10-13 years of age;
• teacher ratings of reading and mathematics assessed at 8 and 12 years; and,
• higher levels of attainment in "high school leaving examinations."
Breastfeeding Fosters Optimal Parenting
Breastfeeding is the ideal way to begin, establish and nurture a close bond between mother and infant. Is a child more likely to attach itself and feel comfort from the body of its mother or a plastic bottle? The infant learns trust in early human contact as well as cooperation with another human being. Mothers who breastfeed successfully often have an increased sense of self worth and empowerment. Mothers with fewer children, spaced further apart, can devote the appropriate amount of time to nurturing and responsible parenting. Breastfed infants are rarely, if ever, victims of child abuse and neglect. Breastfeeding also acts as a natural contraception, allowing mothers to devote more time to their baby.
Oxytocin released during breastfeeding may provide a biological basis for human attachment and bonding. Studies shows that mothers who breastfeed in the first hours of life, choose to keep their infants longer in their hospital rooms than mothers who have later contact. Also, mothers who breastfeed have less anxiety, more mother-infant harmony, and are more engrossed in the feeding interaction than mothers who bottle feed. In several countries throughout the world, the rate of abandonment was reduced significantly after hospitals implemented "the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative," which increased the use of rooming in and early breastfeeding.
Please be aware that the information given in these articles should in no way be taken as a substitute for professional advice and does not necessarily reflect the views of Breast Feeding Information. If you have questions or concerns regarding your family's or your child's physical or mental health, please seek other professional assistance. We cannot be held responsible for any damages that result from the use of the information provided on this website. Any statements and opinions expressed within this site are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of the site.