Many expecting mothers are faced with many questions during the nine months before their baby is born. One of the most contemplated questions is whether to breastfeed your newborn baby. There are many solid reasons to breastfeed. You should consider the facts that support breastfeeding before deciding against it. Here are some reasons why breastfeeding is the best feeding:
Breast Milk Improves Baby's Immune System
Your body is an amazing machine. Just as your body knew what to do when supporting your baby in your womb, it knows what vitamins and nutrients to take from the food you eat and pass it on to your baby. You don’t have to do much work, your body knows how much milk to produce for your hungry baby.
Colostrum is a watery secretion that is produced before breast milk is released in the first few days postpartum. It is a newborn's only natural nutritional source and cannot be found in formula. Infants rely on colostrum for many different reasons. It contains immuniglobens, which are antibodies that protect your new baby from gastroenteritis (a stomach flu that includes vomiting and diarrhea). Colostrum confers immunity to your newborn.
Colostrum and breast milk have a laxative effect on babies which helps to clear out meconium (fecal buildup from fetal development) from the neonatal intestine (Saladin 1093-94). Breastfeeding also helps to reduces the incidence and degree of jaundice in your baby. Breast milk supplies beneficial bacteria and continuously brings in antibodies that protect against infectious bacteria (Saladin 1095). There is no man-made formula that can compete with the natural disease fighting formula of a mother’s milk, no matter what the label says.
Breastfeeding Promotes Bonding
A boob is better than a bottle. Your baby will be soothed as soon as he or she latches to your breast. It is a feeling that is too grand to describe; a natural bond (Lynch-Fraser 144).
Breastfeeding Helps Mom Lose Weight
Breastfeeding puts a great metabolic demand on the nursing mom. A nursing mom produces up to 1.5 liters of milk a day to feed their baby. She loses 50 grams of fat a day and up to 500 calories (Saladin 1095).
Think about it, your baby is living off of the food you consume. There is no magic diet pill that can erase 500 calories from your daily intake. Breastfeeding also helps to cut back on the amount of time you bleed after giving birth, and keeps your period from returning sooner. You can exercise as much as you want; breastfeeding has no restrictions on activity.
Your breasts were made for nourishing your baby. Babies have been thriving off of breast milk for thousands of years. It is an extraordinary gift given to women. You may be turned off by the idea that your breasts will sag if you breastfeed. However, it is not breastfeeding that causes your breasts to sag, but becoming pregnant. Whether you decided to breastfeed or not, your breasts will become larger in preparation for the baby and shrink back to their normal size when you stop breastfeeding or skip the feeding all together. Take advantage of the amazing wonder that are breats, you and your baby will be happy you did.
Breastfeeding isn’t rocket science; it is a natural part of being a mother. It should be enjoyable. Talk to people that support your decision to breastfeed. It doesn’t have to be the gung-ho La Leche League Leader, just someone who was a successful breast feeder. Usually surrounding yourself with others who had a positive experience will help make breastfeeding an enjoyable part of motherhood.
Sources
- Lynch-Fraser, Diane. The Complete Postpartum Guide. Harper and Row, 1983. Print.
- Saladin, Kenneth S. Anatomy and Physiology. 4. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. 1093-1095. Print.
Carleigh Dissell - I always write on topics I have personal experience in or have done extensive research on.
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