Advantages of breast feeding

Breast Feeding

Infants who are exclusively breast fed for the first 6 months of life grow well and breast feeding is beneficial not only during this period but also during later years of life. The infant is put on the breast within half an hour after a normal delivery.

American Academy of Paediatrics(2005) firmly adheres to the position that breast-feeding ensures the best possible health as well as the best developmental and psy-chosocial outcomes for the infants

Colostrum: During first two or three days colostrum is secreted in small quantities of about 10-40 ml. The composition of colostrum is as follows:

Colostrum contains an interferon like substance which has strong antiviral activity. It contains a B12 binding protein making it unavailable for the growth of E-coli and other bacteria. It also contains antibodies against viral infection.

Advantages of breast feeding

Breast feeding is the simple and best method of feeding and has the following advantages

1. Nutritional factor

The composition of human milk is best suited for infants. In human milk the pro-tein content is lower but the content of car-bohydrate, namely lactose is higher. The fat content is comparatively less. The pro-tein is present as lactalbumin which is bet-ter digested than the protein in cow’s milk. Lactose provides natural sweetness and also helps in absorption of calcium and iron. Fat though less is highly emulsified and therefore better digested. When compared to animal milk, breast milk provides higher amount of vitamin C. Similarly calcium in breast milk though less when compared to cow’s milk is better absorbed by the infant. The composi-tion of human milk is best suited for infants. The table 8 below shows the comparison of Human milk and cow’s milk.

2. Hormones and growth factors: Breast milk is a rich source of hormones like Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), thyroxin, insulin and prolactin. It also contains growth regulating factors, growth promoters and growth modulators.

3. Immunological factors:

The following factors in breast milk pro-vide passive immunity.

·        Macrophages: They can digest bac-teria and also develop immunity against infectious diseases.

·        Lymphocytes: Lymphocytes produce antiviral substances like interferon.

·        Lactoferrin: It is an iron binding protein that inhibits the growth of E.coli and other bacteria.

·        Enzymes: Breast milk also sup-plies enzymes like lipase, amylase and lactoperoxidase which increase digestibility and also destroy the harmful microorganisms.

·         Immunoglobulin: They are defen-sive proteins which include all types of antibodies.

4. Economic factors

Breast milk is the most economical food for the baby. Even after accounting the extra food cost required by the mother, breast milk is cheaper than any other type of artificial feed.

5. Psychological factors

Breast feeding is essential for a healthy, happy and emotional relationship between the mother and the infant.

6. Natural contraceptive

Breast feeding prevents the onset of another pregnancy and also prevents breast cancer.

7. Other advantages:

·        Infants jaw is more fully developed.

·        Breast milk is microbiologically sterile.

·        Human milk is always fresh and at the right temperature.

·        It is convenient to administer at any time.

·        Breast fed babies have better cogni-tion and IQ later in life when com-pared to bottle fed babies.

Artificial feeding

Though breast milk is the best milk and there can be no substitute for it, there are certain circumstances during which the infant needs to be given artificial feeds.

Reasons

·           Illness of short duration like fever, or severe illness like tuberculosis and heart disease.

·        The mother is on steroids, antico-agulants or radioactive drugs.

·        Insufficient milk secretion.

·        Death of mother.