Human breast milk is recommended by the American
Academy of Pediatrics and several other professional and governmental
organizations as the sole nutritional source for infants in the first six
months of life. In addition it is
recommended that it be combined with other solid foods from six to twelve
months of age. The reasons for these
recommendations are the well established benefits for both infants and mothers.
So let’s look at what these benefits
are.
For the infant breast milk provides adequate nutrition
alone for the first six months of life and promotes improved function of the
gastrointestinal tract. It helps prevent
gastrointestinal infection because antibodies and white blood cells from the
mother are present in breast milk. As a
result overall death and illness rates are lower in breastfed infants compared
to those that are not. In addition, fewer
episodes of pneumonia, ear infections and diarrhea have been noted in many
studies of breast fed infants.
There are several documented long term benefits to
infants as well. There are associations
between longer periods of breastfeeding and a reduced risk of obesity, type-one
diabetes, certain cancers and heart disease.
Finally, there is good evidence brain function is
improved in breast fed infants since IQ, hearing and vision appear slightly
improved versus infants who are not breastfed.
When thinking about benefits of breastfeeding we often forget there are
also benefits to mothers who breastfeed. First recovery from birth is often improved and
weight loss enhanced by breastfeeding.
Two types of cancer in women, breast and ovarian,
as well as some forms of heart disease are less common in women who have
breastfed infants. However we must
realize that in addition to benefits there are risks to weigh when considering
breastfeeding. For example, some
infections can be spread to infants from breast milk or from maternal skin and
many medications a mother takes cross into breast milk. In fact there are a couple of situations
where breastfeeding should not be done. These include mothers with active tuberculosis
and those taking certain anti-cancer medications.
The bottom line is that the benefits of
breastfeeding far outweigh the risk for the vast majority of mothers and
infants.
This is Dr Thad Woodard. Have a good day.
Dr Woodard is a physician and owner of Alaska Center for Pediatrics