Breast-Feeding...Just Do It

Breast-feeding...Just Do It

Who is to say that breast-feeding is the best for your baby. For years, breast-feeding tactics have been used as the best way to feed your infant. There was never any debate as to how you should feed your child, until a few years ago when artificial baby formulas were made. Now, researches have set out to figure out which way is the best for your baby. Studies upon studies have been done in search of the answer. Finally it was proven that breast-feeding, the natural way, was superior over artificial formulas.

Breast-feeding is the all-natural process in which young infants get the nutritional intake that they need to survive, grow, and develop. Researchers have established that breast milk is perfectly suited to nourish infants and protect them from illness. Breast fed infants have lower rates of hospital admissions, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies, and other medical problems than bottle-fed babies.

Human mothers produce many nutrients that cannot be found in formulas. The female body was made by Mother Nature to ensure the survival of mankind. "There are 4,000 species of mammals, and they all make different milk. Human milk is made for human infants and it meets all their specific nutrient needs," said Ruth Lawrence, M.D., professor of pediatrics and obstetrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, N.Y., and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics (Williams, p.1). Breast milk is one of the few substances that are completely sterile. It is made from inside the body and no environmental factors play a role in this process.

From the beginning of nursing, the infant receives and important body element called colostrum. The word colostrum was derived from the bacteria know as Clostridium difficult. This microbe produces a toxin that bind to walls of the body causing diarrhea or swelling of the colon. Immunoglobulins, found in colostrum, coat the exterior walls and resist the binding of the microbes. Colostrum also stimulates substances in the body to promote gut maturation, facilitate digestion, and stimulate passage of meconium. Colostrum is extremely concentrated with the proteins that make up immunoglobulins and secretory IgA. IgA is the maternal-specific immunogobulins that are needed for protection against environmental antigens. The human infant can easily absorb these substances produced by the human breast. Complete development of the brain and nerve tissue rely on these substances. Human milk contains at least 100 ingredients that are not found in formula. Saturated and unsaturated fats produced in breast milk dissolve at rates needed for the optimal usage of nutrients. Everything produced in a mother's milk is completely utilized by the infant.

Another quality that human milk possesses is the ability to provide an infant with passive cellular and hormonal immunity. Studies have verified that breast fed infants has a lower incidence of bacterial and viral illnesses than do bottle-fed babies. Diabetes mellitus, cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, and heart disease all may be protected against by human milk immunities. Approximately eighty percent of cells in breast milk are macrophages, cells that kill bacteria, fungi and viruses. Furthermore, a mother’s milk is designed to fight diseases present in their particular environment. Babies that were breast fed also have protection against allergic diseases including eczema, asthma, and allergic rhinitis.

Leukemia, a form of childhood cancer, has concerned parents around the world for decades. There are two forms of childhood leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the leading medical cause of death in children and the second cause of death in children, behind accidents. While Doctors have made significant advances in curing leukemia, they haven't been able to understand it or prevent it. Children who were breast fed for at least one month had a twenty-one percent lower risk of developing the disease. Human milk has natural agents in it that initially enables the child to become immune to leukemia.

Another problem that a person might not necessarily face as a child, but possibly as an adult, is heart disease. Heart disease is a cardiovascular disease that becomes more prominent with age. It deals with the amount of cholesterol that is being manufactured and sent throughout the body. It is indicated that the fats produced in breast milk contribute to the amount of cholesterol produced in the body. These fats allow the body to properly regulate the levels of cholesterol and hormonal agents that are produced.

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