Breastfeeding is the best gift that a mother can give to her baby. Breast milk is loaded with immense health benefits and is the only food that your baby needs in the first 6 months of their life. Since breast milk is free, you won’t have to worry about spending a ton of money on baby food in the first year of infant life. While being a less expensive option is just an added bonus, breastfeeding has many benefits not just for the baby, but for the mom as well. Many new mothers are unaware of the benefits offered by breastfeeding when compared to giving formula milk for their babies. On account of World Breastfeeding Week which is celebrated every year in the first week of August, we break down all the benefits that breastfeeding offers for the mom and the baby.
Benefits Of Breastfeeding For Baby
Breast milk is composed of white blood cells, beneficial bacteria, stem cells, antibodies, enzymes, hormones, and other bioactive components. These live ingredients protect the baby against infections and diseases and help in the overall health and development of the baby(1).
Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months offers many health benefits to babies. Breastfed babies have a low chance of suffering from colds and flu, chest infection, ear infection, thrush, gastroenteritis, and diarrhea.
Breastfed babies are less likely to be victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) when compared to formula-fed babies. SIDS is the unexplained death of an infant during sleep. It occurs in babies below the age of 1 year. SIDS is one of the leading causes of death among infants, with an average of 2,300 babies dying every year in America(2).
Breastfeeding a premature baby helps him/her fight potentially fatal conditions such as chronic lung disease, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and sepsis(3).
Breastfeeding also helps your baby develop a healthy sleep-wake pattern as the oxytocin present in breast milk will put your baby to sleep after breastfeeding. Breastfeeding has a positive effect on brain development and provides behavioral benefits while also helping them cope with stress later in life. Research has shown that breastfed kids will have a healthier adult life when compared to formula-fed babies and have a lower chance of suffering from leukemia, lymphoma, and type 1 or type 2 diabetes(4).
Benefits Of Breastfeeding For Mother
While we are often focused on the benefits of breast milk for a baby, many women are still unaware of the benefits of breastfeeding for the mother. Breastfeeding provides a great bonding experience for the mother and child. It releases hormones, prolactin, and oxytocin, which helps the mother relax and feel peaceful, which in turn helps her focus on the baby. It also strengthens the bond between a mother and child(5).
Breastfeeding also offers several benefits to moms that go beyond emotional fulfillment. Let’s take a look at a few of them(6):
- Breastfeeding helps the mother to recover from childbirth much faster. As discussed earlier, breastfeeding releases the hormone oxytocin which also helps shrink the uterus to its pre-pregnancy size.
- Women who have breastfed in the past are less likely to develop ovarian and breast cancer in the future.
- Research has shown that breastfeeding also reduces the risk of several other diseases in mothers such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.
- Breastfeeding also helps to lose pregnancy weight, thus helping new mothers to bounce back to their pre-pregnancy body(7).
母亲的母乳喂养是一个方便的选择ince they won’t have to worry about preparing a warm bottle of formula milk several times a day. Breastfeeding moms also won’t have to tug along a heavy bag with feeding equipment whenever they travel with the baby. Breastfeeding is also good for the planet since there will be less wastage of water and zero cans of baby formula to throw away.
If our post helped you gain a deeper knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding, share it with your friends to help them too.
