WHY BREASTFEED
Should I breastfeed my baby?
Preparing for the birth of your baby is an exciting and busy time. There are many important decisions that you will have to make in regards to the health and safety of your new child. One of the most important decisions you will make is how to feed your baby.
Making the decision to breastfeed can give your baby the best possible start in life. Breastfeeding benefits you and your baby in many different ways.
Benefits for Baby:
1. Breastfeeding provides warmth and closeness. The physical contact helps create a special bond between you and your baby.
2. Human milk has many benefits.
• It's easier for your baby to digest.
• It doesn't need to be prepared.
• It's always available.
• It has all the nutrients, calories, and fluids your baby needs to be healthy.
• It has growth factors that ensure the best development of your baby's organs.
• It has many substances that formulas don't have that protect your baby from many diseases and infections. In fact, breastfed babies are less likely to have
◦ Ear infections
◦ Diarrhea
◦ Pneumonia, wheezing, and bronchiolitis
◦ Other bacterial and viral infections, such as meningitis
Research also suggests that breastfeeding may help to protect against obesity, diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and some cancers.
Benefits for Mom:
Breastfeeding is not only good for baby but provides many benefits to you as well. These benefits include:
• Release hormones in your body that promote mothering behavior.
• Return your uterus to the size it was before pregnancy more quickly.
• Burn more calories, which may help you lose the weight you gained during pregnancy.
• Delay the return of your menstrual period to help keep iron in your body.
• Provide contraception, but only if these 3 conditions are met: (1) you are exclusively breastfeeding and not giving your baby any other supplements, (2) it is within the first 6 months after birth, (3) your period has not returned.
• Reduce the risk of ovarian cancer and breast cancer.
• Keep bones strong, which helps protect against bone fractures in older age.
Breast milk gives your baby more than just good nutrition. It also provides important substances to fight infection. Breastfeeding has medical and psychological benefits for the both of you. For many mothers and babies, breastfeeding goes smoothly from the start. For others, it takes a little time and several attempts to get the process going effectively. Like anything new, breastfeeding takes some practice. This is perfectly normal. If you need help, ask the doctors and nurses while you are still in the hospital, your pediatrician, a lactation specialist, or a breastfeeding support group.
Resources:
(2005). Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. American Academy of Pediatrics, 115(2), 496-506. Retrieved from http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;115/2/496
Why breastfeed. (2010, July 29). Retrieved from http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/breastfeeding/pages/Why-Breastfeed.aspx
