Preparing for Breastfeeding

Until the early part of this century, mothers didn’t give a thought as to how to feed their babies. All babies were breastfed, if not by the mother herself, then by a wet nurse: a lactating woman who breastfed the child for the mother. Then along came formula, which provided a viable feeding alternative for women and babies physically incapable of breastfeeding and for infants without a mother. Yet the availability of formula has created a complex dilemma for women all over the world.

Experts today are unanimous in their support of breastfeeding as the hands-down best way to feed a human infant. In 1998, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a landmark statement that babies should be fed breastmilk exclusively until the age of six months and continue to breastfeed, after the introduction of solid foods, until age one and beyond. Breastfeeding should begin within the first hour of birth.

The World Health Organization has proclaimed that breastfeeding a baby until age two is ideal.

The advantages of breastfeeding are so numerous that it is difficult to name them all—and researchers continually uncover more information. Here are just a few of the highlights of breastfeeding’s benefits to your baby:

• Breastmilk is the perfect nutrient for human babies, and it is species-specific. For example, while cow’s milk contains far more iron than human milk, the iron is not in a form that is easily absorbed by humans. What’s more, the nutritional makeup of breastmilk changes to match the different stages of your baby’s development.

• Breastmilk protects infants against a wide range of diseases, including respiratory infections, bacterial meningitis, diarrhea, pneumonia, botulism, and middle ear and urinary tract infections. Some studies also suggest breastmilk may protect against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), allergies, insulin-dependent diabetes, Crohn’s disease, lymphoma, and several digestive diseases.

• Children who are breastfed are ill much less often than those who are not. The cost to the nation as a result of this may be as much as two to four billion dollars annually.

• Children are never allergic to their mother’s milk. By contrast, some babies do develop allergies to cow’s milk, soy milk, or other ingredients contained in infant formula.

• Breastmilk may protect your baby’s future health in ways you might not realize. For example, though researchers aren’t sure why, an adult requiring a kidney transplant has a much better chance of a good result if he was breastfed as a child. The result will be even better if the substitute organ is from a sibling who was also breastfed, rather than one who was formula-fed.

• Unlike formula, breastmilk is not subject to the risk of contamination. Formula, like any other canned product, carries a potential for salmonella, glass particles, insect parts, and a number of other possible contaminants.

• And, most importantly of all, nursing strengthens the bond between mother and child. Something special passes between an infant and her mother while they are breastfeeding together. Nursing makes infants feel safe and secure the way nothing else can,

There are also numerous benefits to you, the mother, for breastfeeding. They include:

• A rise in oxytocin levels, which helps reduce postpartum bleeding and postpartum depression that sometimes accompany new motherhood.

• Continuous breastfeeding is a natural birth control. If you breastfeed exclusively, your chances of getting pregnant are less than one percent during the first six months (as long as your period has not resumed).

• Studies show that breastfeeding exclusively for one year or more may protect against ovarian and breast cancer. Other studies suggest it may reduce the number of urinary tract infections and protect against osteoporosis. Pregnancy depletes your bones of some of their mineral content. Breastfeeding women get those mineral levels back more quickly than women who feed their babies with formula.

• Breastfeeding is much less expensive than formula feeding. In fact, it’s free!

• Breastfeeding can help you get back to your prepregnancy weight more quickly.

• Breastmilk is the perfect convenience food. You don’t need to own a full stash of bottles, nipples, cans of formula, bottlebrushes, or sterilizers. You don’t need to warm it up to the right temperature or mix it with water. When you leave the house, you don’t need to pack a thing.