Breastfeeding Benefits Not Just The Mom And Baby

What a concept, breastfeeding benefits not just the mom and baby but it also benefits the economy and the environment.Breast milk contains many nutrients babies need for a healthy life and it is...

What a concept, breastfeeding benefits not just the mom and baby but it also benefits the economy and the environment.

Breast milk contains many nutrients babies need for a healthy life and it is very digestible so little tummies are happier too. There are special enzymes in breast milk that optimize digestion and absorb nutrients in breast milk until the infants are able to produce these enzymes on their own. Many factor in the breast milk help to protect babies against different illness caused by bacteria and viruses. These breast milk antibodies protect the baby and his/her mother. The mother can use breast milk on sore or cracked nipples to heal them and the baby drinking her breast milk is protected against disease now and in the future. Furthermore, research has discovered that the fatty acids that are unique only to human breast milk have an important role to play in optimizing brain and visual development. Studies have shown a small-elevated margin for those who were breastfed over those who were not when taking cognitive or neurological tests that measure IQ.

Did you know that breastfeeding has saved lives?

It is true that research has shown that infants that were not breastfed had an increased risk for infant death syndrome (SIDS). It has also been found that infants that were breastfed were protected against a dangerous life-threatening gastrointestinal disease while in NICU as well as other diseases. Studies have also shown that those who are breast-fed are less likely to develop ear infections in the first 4 months of life as well as to develop diarrhea. When children are susceptible for Type I insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), breastfeeding can reduce their risk if they are exclusively breastfed for the first two months of life. Studies have also sown that it is also possible that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of childhood lymphoma and inflammatory bowel disease. There is also some protection against allergies and there is recent research that also suggests that older children and adults who were breast fed as babies are not as likely to develop auto-immune diseases, heart disease, hypertension or stroke as those who had been formula fed.

Moms who breastfeed are also helping themselves because the act of breastfeeding burn calories, that can equate to weight loss quicker than if they had bottle fed their infants and breastfeeding also helps the uterus return to normal size after delivery which reduces the amount of blood loss after the baby is born.

Women that dislike the monthly menstrual cycle will be happy to know that if they breastfeed they are more likely to resume this monthly cycle 20 to 30 weeks later than women who bottle feed their infants.

The benefits to women extends past when they are done breastfeeding for instance, when women breastfeed and do not use any other form of contraceptive, the breastfeeding itself can be an important way of spacing family planning. The risk of breast and ovarian cancer is also reduced among women who have breastfed. It has also been shown that women who have breast-fed have a decreased risk for multiple sclerosis and also reduces the risk for osteoporosis. While a woman is lactating her HDL level can increase, and her total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and her triglyceride levels can decrease. A breastfeeding mom can also have an improved carbohydrate metabolism.

It is more economical to breastfeed than it is to feed formula to a baby. Formula feeding requires the cost of bottles, formula, and the supplies needed to clean the bottles and heat the formula including the cost of electric or gas to heat the formula. There has been an overall increase of 150% in the cost of feeding a baby formula since the 1980s. The cost of healthcare for infants who are breastfed is a big savings because those who are breastfed become ill less often, the baby and mom are healthier and there is another cost savings when a healthier mom doesn’t have to miss work for herself or for when you child gets sick saving companies money.

Because there are no supplies to dispose have while breastfeeding unlike bottle-feeding, the burden is less on our landfills, there is a reduction in pollutants because the manufacture of plastics used in bottle-feeding tend to pollute the air.

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