One has always known the goodness of mother’s milk. Now a recent article published in the current issue of the advances in Pediatrics, surveys both the risks and the benefits associated with breast feeding.
Compared to most developed countries, US has a lower rate of introduction and continuation of breast feeding among lactating mothers. Social factors like inadequate maternity leave and misunderstanding of benefits versus risks are responsible for encouraging mothers to opt for infant formula milk.
David K. Rassin, co-author of the paper said,
although many of us assume that everyone knows breastfeeding is best for infants and the American Academy of Pediatrics has come out with really strong recommendations in favor of it, the prevalence of breastfeeding in the United States is only about 65 percent right now. One of the points we tried to make in this article is that even in this country there are definitely some health risks associated with formula feeding - they just tend to involve diseases that take a long time to emerge but may reflect lack of breastfeeding.
One of the drawbacks of breast feeding is that, if the mother is HIV infected, or has some infectious disease, or is under some medication, then, the nursing infant can be exposed to serious infections and certain toxic medications. But, if adequate precautions are taken then, breast milk is the best primary source of nutrition for the newborns.
It is widely accepted now days that no infant formula is as good as breast milk. Apart from providing appropriate amounts of carbohydrate, protein, and fat, breast milk also provides a host of vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, and hormones.
In fact, breast fed babies are less prone to infections than those who are fed on formula milk, because, mother’s milk also contains valuable antibodies, which helps the baby to fight and resist infections.
Do breastfeed your baby, if you are a lactating mother, because not only is it wholesome and nutritious, it is a great way to emotionally bond with your little bundle-of-joy.
