Breastfeeding: 10 Reasons Why It Is Important

Breastfeeding is known as one of the first decisions a mother has to make. She has to know how to feed her baby to achieve healthy growth and development. During a baby or an infant’s early stage of development, it is advised that lactation should be observed adherently rather than having the baby feed on bottles or milk formulas.

The breast milk of a mother who has just given birth contains “colostrum” that consists of antibodies and nutrients a newborn baby needs as an early form of the body's health defence. Colostrum, the sticky yellowish substance produced at the end of pregnancy, is also recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the perfect food for the newborn, and feeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth.¹
We often hear commercial advertisements (mostly of baby milk formulas), stating that breastmilk is best for babies up to two years of age. This is actually true. According to experts, children should also be exclusively breastfed up to six months, and then with continued breastfeeding along with age appropriate complementary foods up to the age of two years.²

Breastfeeding contributes a lot of healthy benefits for both the mother and her little angel. In this post are ten of the reasons why it is very important to breastfeed a baby.

1. Breastfed babies are less likely to be hospitalized. 

According to studies, breastfeeding protects the baby against developing chronic diseases such as: celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, and childhood cancers.³ It can also help the baby’s immune system mature, protecting the baby in the meantime from viral, bacteria, and parasitic infections.⁴

2. Breastmilk is the perfect food. 

Unlike baby milk formulas, breastmilk is really suited on the baby’s needs. It contains the important ingredients that your baby requires to combat infections and strengthen his immune system. It is also cheap and is readily available and produced mostly based on the baby’s demands. It is the perfect fod to promote the baby’s healthy growth and development.

3. It is environment friendly.

Well, of course, since breastmilk is obviously neither manufactured nor produced in a factory, it is obviously all organic and naturally safe. It does not contain any waste product as well and leaves no carbon footprint.⁵

4. Breastmilk aids in promoting the baby’s proper digestion. 

Babies that are breastfed have lesser episodes of constipation and diarrhoea. Breastmilk is found to be easier to digest compared to formula milk. The colostrum or the first milk is also found as a gentle form of laxative that helps clear the baby’s intestines.⁶

5. It promotes bonding between mother and baby.

Such as a kangaroo caring for her offspring inside her belly pouch, skin to skin contact also promotes a strong maternal bond between the mother and child during breastfeeding. It is suggested that during the first hour after delivery, the baby should be latched on to the mother’s breast to begin initial feeding and nursing. It is found that immediate skin to skin contact would provide a form of imprinting which would make subsequent feedings easier. According to the World Health Organization, this would also help reduce crying and improves mother to infant interaction, and keeps baby warm.

6. It somehow creates a paternal bond as well. 

Not the one that other people have on their green mind. Breastfeeding could be a way for the family including the father to also bond. The father’s support in breastfeeding would bring about a significant impact between a father and child relationship. When the mother is away, the father could act as a caregiver feeding the baby with breastmilk earlier expressed by the mother from a breast pump.

7. Breastfeeding your baby can help him grow up smart.

According to research, the superior nutrition provided by breastmilk could greatly contribute at enhancing the baby’s IQ.⁷ However, this possible association is not so clear. Further studies have been conducted to prove this association. There was an issue of whether the association is related to the properties found in the breastmilk per se or is it the bonding between the mother and child that contributes to intellectual intelligence.

Further research in 2013 has supported the theory that prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding contributes to the baby’s cognitive development. An imaging study indicated that breastfed children experience 15-34% enhanced brain white matter development.⁸

8. Breastfeeding can help the mother sleep soundly. 

Breastfeeding releases the hormones oxytocin and prolactin. The release of these hormones can help the mother feel relaxed and nurturing towards her baby.⁹ These hormones would also enable her to have a good sleep even after a long and tiring day.

9. Reduces the risk or post-partum bleeding. 

Bleeding after delivery is normal, however caution should still be observed for this could lead to infection and other alarming complications. This is why women undergoing labor are injected with oxytocin. It is a hormone that helps in the quick contraction of the uterus which would also reduce bleeding. This hormone is naturally released during breastfeeding.

10. It helps prevent breast cancer in women.

Women who have been breastfeeding for over six months would produce a decrease in estrogen level and gain protection against breast cancer. This would also delay the onset of the disease by ten years.¹⁰ This is only ten of the many benefits brought about by breastfeeding. That is why it is globally encouraged because of its large contribution towards health, growth, and development, not only for the baby but for the entire family and the community.

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REFERENCES:

1 WHO. Health Topics. Breastfeeding. http://www.who.int/topics/breastfeeding/en/ Accessed August 3,2014 ^?
2 “Nutrition in the First 1,000 Days: State of the World’s Mothers, 2012". Retrieved October 26, 2013^?
3 Davis M: Review of the evidence for an association between infant feeding and childhood cancer, International J Cancer (Suppl.) 1998; 11:29-33.^?
4 Beaudry M, Dufour R, Marcoux S: Relation between infant feeding and infections during the first six months of life. J Pediatrics 1995; 126:191-197.^?
5 Queensland Health. http://www.health.qld.gov.au/breastfeeding/importance.asp.Accessed August 3, 2014 ^?
6 Popkin B, Adair L, Akin J, Black R, Briscoe J, Fleger W: Breast-feeding and diarrheal morbidity, Pediatrics 1990; 86(6):874-882. ^?
7 Jacobson S, Chiodo L, Jacobson J: Breastfeeding effects on intelligence quotient in 4- and 11-year-old children, Pediatrics 1999; 103(5):71. ^?
8 Deoni SC, Dean DC, Piryatinsky I, O'Muircheartaigh J, Waskiewicz N, Lehman K, Han M, Dirks H (May 2013)."Breastfeeding and early white matter development: A cross-sectional study" Accessed August 3, 2014 ^?
9 Stuart-Macadam P, Dettwyler K (1995). Breastfeeding: biocultural perspectives. Aldine de Gruyter. p. 131.^?
10 Journal of Clinical Nursing ."Breastfeeding for six months can delay breast cancer onset by a decade". 2013-08-15. Retrieved August 3, 2014^?

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