Breastfeeding
What Are the Benefits?
A hundred years ago, babies who were not breastfed had a hard time surviving. After formula was developed, their lives became a lot easier – and a lot longer. Early formulas were far better than unpasteurized cow milk and other milks they replaced. Over the years, dramatic improvements have been made. Formula companies work very hard to find out what human milk nutrients they can add to formula to make it better. Every few years they find another one. The latest is DHA (docosahexanoic acid), a fat found in mothers’ milk that is important for infant brain development. So today’s formula fed babies have a better chance for optimal brain development than they would have a few years ago.
This is wonderful news. But, scientists estimate that mothers’ milk may have over a hundred thousand components. We do not know why there are so many or what they all do. Formula contains a few dozen – the ones scientists (today) believe are most important. Tomorrow’s formula will be even better as the companies identify and add more of the nutrients in mothers’ milk.
Meanwhile, breastfed babies get all of these nutrients automatically – even the ones we don’t understand. Breastfed babies also get specialized immune protection through the milk. Mothers’ milk changes constantly to fight the germs that threaten baby, so every mother’s milk is different. Every mother’s milk is designed to fight the germs in her environment. In poor countries, this can make the difference between life and death. In the U.S., medical care makes the difference between life and death. Here, babies who are not breastfed are not more likely to die from illness*, but they are more likely to go to the hospital. In fact, in this country,
Infants who are breastfed exclusively for at least 3 months are 1/3 less likely to be readmitted to the hospital in the first year of life than infants who are not breastfed.
In this country, we see more ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory infections,
meningitis, constipation, colic, asthma, and many other illnesses in children
who are formula fed than in those who are exclusively breastfed for at
least 3-4 months. From a community standpoint, more exclusive breastfeeding
means that fewer babies suffer, fewer parents miss work, and medical costs
are lower. This is the main reason that local and national health professionals
promote exclusive breastfeeding. This is what people mean when they say
“breast is best”. But there is a lot more to it.
1. Breastfeeding protects mothers against negative
moods.
Mothers’ moods become more positive during breastfeeding and less
positive during bottle feeding. The effect is not permanent, but it may
explain why breastfeeding mothers become so devoted to the act of breastfeeding.
Ref: Health Psychol. 2002 Mar;21(2):187-93
2. Breastfeeding protects mothers against breast
cancer.
We are just beginning to understand this protective effect. We now know
that women at genetic risk for breast cancer (BRCA1 but not BRCA2 mutations)
are half as likely (O.R. 0.55) to develop breast cancer if they breastfeed
for over a year than if they do not. Ref: J Natl Cancer Inst 2004;96:1094–8
3. DHA may not be the only thing in mother’s
milk that is important for infant brain development.
Infants who are breastfed exclusively for at least 12 weeks have better
general motor movements (a powerful predictor of neurological outcome)
than infants who are fed DHA supplemented formulas before that time. There
is a lot more work to do before we understand the full impact of mother’s
milk on brain development. Ref: J. Nutr. 133:4243-4245, December 2003
4. Children who are breastfed are less likely to
be obese when they enter school and when they are teenagers.
We know this is true. But we do not know why. Even just a couple of months
of breastfeeding seems to work. Ref: Int. J Obesity. (2004) 28, 1247-1256
So where does that leave you? Everyone is different, but why not line up some good support (a knowledgeable friend or a lactation consultant) and go for it? The good news is, your body has been preparing you for breastfeeding from the moment you conceived.