ALL MOMS WANTTO GIVE THEIR BABIES the best possible start in life. From car seats to cribs and everything in between, moms look for the safest and most reliable infant products. Of course, they also want to ensure their babies get the best possible nutrition for optimum health and growth. With respect to meeting an infant’s nutritional needs, there’s no better choice than breastfeeding.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infants who are breastfed have a lower risk of certain illnesses and diseases, including asthma, obesity, type 1 diabetes, severe lower respiratory disease, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), gastrointestinal infections, and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) for preterm infants. Breastfeeding also lowers moms’ risk of developing certain diseases, such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure, the CDC notes. Furthermore, being completely cost-free, breastfeeding is the ideal choice for moms on a tight budget.
What’s so special about mother’s milk?
Human milk is specifically “formulated” for human babies and contains the perfect amounts of fatty acids, lactose, water, and amino acids necessary for proper digestion, brain development, and growth. The protein found in cow’s milk, on the other hand, may be ideal for calves but is not so easily digestible for human babies.
Infant formula is an acceptable alternative, but it lacks many of the ingredients found in breast milk. Also, infants can have an allergic reaction to some formulas, which is not the case with mother’s milk. Breastfed babies can react to food allergens passed on in the breast milk, but this problem can usually be resolved through diet modification on the mother’s part.
Why are breastfed babies healthier?
Breastfed babies tend to have fewer health problems than formula- fed babies because a mother’s antibodies are transferred directly to the infant in her milk. Since the mother will have developed antibodies to most of the diseases in her immediate surroundings, her baby will enjoy the same immunity. Also, macrophages—cells that kill various bacteria, fungi, and viruses— account for approximately 80 percent of the cells that make up breast milk, according to the National Institutes of Health. What’s more, breastfed babies develop significant amounts of beneficial bacteria in their digestive tracts that prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms.
Other benefits to baby
Suckling at the breast strengthens babies’ jaws and promotes the growth of straight, healthy teeth. Also, a breastfed baby can start and stop suckling at will to control the rate at which milk is delivered from the breast, whereas bottle-fed babies must constantly feed in reaction to the pressure of the nipple in their mouths.
Nursing also helps to establish the critical psychological bond between a mother and her infant, and skin-to-skin contact gives the baby a sense of warmth and comfort. Plus, it’s no coincidence that a newborn baby’s visual acuity is limited to 12-15 inches—the approximate distance between a nursing baby and its mother’s face. There are very few medical conditions or illnesses that restrict a mother from breastfeeding her baby. Colds, flu, and many other common ailments cannot be transferred to a baby through breast milk, and, as mentioned, if a nursing mother does have an illness, she will most likely develop antibodies to the disease that will be passed along to the infant in her milk.
However, there are certain illnesses or circumstances that preclude breastfeeding. Visit cdc.gov/breastfeeding for further information on contraindications to breastfeeding. If you have any questions or concerns about the safety of breastfeeding for your baby, be sure to discuss them with your physician.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend that moms exclusively breastfeed their babies for the first six months and then continue breastfeeding along with introducing complementary foods until age two or even longer. However, the longer breastfeeding is sustained, the greater the health protection for both the baby and the mother. ✲
