BREASTFEEDING: Good For BABY, Good For MOM

World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is an annual celebration which is being held every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries.

On this day, we at Quest Biotech India Pvt. Ltd. take this as our responsibility to aware people about Benefits of Breastfeeding to Mom and Baby. We tried to cover all points.

Breast milk is best for your baby, and the benefits of breastfeeding extend well beyond basic nutrition. In addition to containing all the vitamins and nutrients your baby needs in the first six months of life, breast milk is packed with disease-fighting substances that protect your baby from illness.

What Are the Benefits of Breastfeeding for Your Baby?

Breast milk provides the ideal nutrition for infants. It has a nearly perfect mix of vitamins, protein, and fat -- everything your baby needs to grow. And it's all provided in a form more easily digested than infant formula. Breast milk contains antibodies that help your baby fight off viruses and bacteria. Breastfeeding lowers your baby's risk of having asthma or allergies. Plus, babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhea. 

Breastfeeding has been linked to higher IQ scores in later childhood in some studies. What's more, the physical closeness, skin-to-skin touching, and eye contact all help your baby bond with you and feel secure. Breastfed infants are more likely to gain the right amount of weight as they grow rather than become overweight children. Breastfeeding also plays a role in the prevention of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). It's been thought to lower the risk of diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers as well, but more research is needed.

"The longer you breastfeed, the longer the protection lasts and the greater the benefits. Formula milk doesn't provide the same protection from illness and doesn't give you any health benefits."

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of:

·       

•  infections, with fewer visits to hospital as a result
•  diarrhoea and vomiting, with fewer visits to hospital as a result
•  sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
•  childhood leukaemia
• type 2 diabetes
• obesity
•  cardiovascular disease in adulthood

Are There Breastfeeding Benefits for the Mother?

Breastfeeding burns extra calories, so it can help you lose pregnancy weight faster. It releases the hormone oxytocin, which helps your uterus return to its pre-pregnancy size and may reduce uterine bleeding after birth. Breastfeeding also lowers your risk of breast and ovarian cancer. It may lower your risk of osteoporosis, too.

Since you don't have to buy and measure formula, sterilize nipples, or warm bottles, it saves you time and money. It also gives you regular time to relax quietly with your newborn as you bond.

Breastfeeding and making breast milk also has health benefits for you. The more you breastfeed, the greater the benefits.

Breastfeeding Benefits for Mothers:

Reduces the risk of breast cancer. Women who breastfeed reduce their risk of developing breast cancer by as much as 25 percent. The reduction in cancer risk comes in proportion to the cumulative lifetime duration of breastfeeding. That is, the more months or years a mother breastfeeds, the lower her risk of breast cancer.

Reduces the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer. One of the reasons for the cancer-fighting effects of breastfeeding is that estrogen levels are lower during lactation. It is thought that the less estrogen available to stimulate the lining of the uterus and perhaps breast tissue also, the less the risk of these tissues becoming cancerous.

Lessens osteoporosis. Non-breastfeeding women have a four times greater chance of developing osteoporosis than breastfeeding women and are more likely to suffer from hip fractures in the post-menopausal years.

Benefits child spacing. Since breastfeeding delays ovulation, the longer a mother breastfeeds the more she is able to practice natural childspacing, if she desires. How long a woman remains infertile depends on her baby’s nursing pattern and her own individual baby.

Promotes emotional health. Not only does breastfeeding benefit a mother’s body, it also benefits her mind. Studies show that breastfeeding mothers show less postpartum anxiety and depression than do formula-feeding mothers.

Promotes postpartum weight loss. Breastfeeding mothers showed significantly larger reductions in hip circumference and more fat loss by one month postpartum when compared with formula-feeding moms. Breastfeeding mothers tend to have an earlier return to their pre-pregnant weight.

What is colostrum and how does it help my baby?

Your breastmilk helps your baby grow healthy and strong from day one.

Your first milk is liquid gold. Called liquid gold for its deep yellow color, colostrum (coh-LOSS-trum) is the thick first milk that you make during pregnancy and just after birth. This milk is very rich in nutrients and includes antibodies to protect your baby from infections.

Colostrum also helps your newborn infant's digestive system to grow and function. Your baby gets only a small amount of colostrum at each feeding, because the stomach of a newborn infant is tiny and can hold only a small amount. 

Your milk changes as your baby grows. Colostrum changes into mature milk by the third to fifth day after birth. This mature milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water, and protein to help your baby continue to grow. It looks thinner than colostrum, but it has the nutrients and antibodies your baby needs for healthy growth.

Does my breastfeeding baby need more vitamin D?

Maybe. Vitamin D is needed to build strong bones. All infants and children should get at least 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D each day.

To meet this need, your child's doctor may recommend that you give your baby a vitamin D supplement of 400 IU each day. This should start in the first few days of life. You can buy vitamin D supplements for infants at a drugstore or grocery store.

Even though sunlight is a major source of vitamin D, it is hard to measure how much sunlight your baby gets and sun exposure can be harmful. Once your baby is weaned from breastmilk, talk to your baby's doctor about whether your baby still needs vitamin D supplements. Some children do not get enough vitamin D from the food they eat.

How does breastfeeding compare to formula-feeding?

• Formula can be harder for your baby to digest. For most babies, especially premature babies, breastmilk substitutes like formula are harder to digest than breastmilk. Formula is made from cow's milk, and it often takes time for babies' stomachs to adjust to digesting it.
• Life can be easier for you when you breastfeed. Breastfeeding may seem like it takes a little more effort than formula-feeding at first. But breastfeeding can make your life easier once you and your baby settle into a good routine. When you breastfeed, there are no bottles and nipples to sterilize. You do not have to buy, measure, and mix formula. And there are no bottles to warm in the middle of the night! When you breastfeed, you can satisfy your baby's hunger right away.
• Not breastfeeding costs money. Breastfed babies may also be sick less often, which can help keep your baby's health costs lower.
• Breastfeeding keeps mother and baby close. Physical contact is important to newborns. It helps them feel more secure, warm, and comforted. Mothers also benefit from this closeness. The skin-to-skin contact boosts your oxytocin (OKS-ee-TOH-suhn) levels. Oxytocin is a hormone that helps breastmilk flow and can calm the mother.

Can breastfeeding help me lose weight?

Besides giving your baby nourishment and helping to keep your baby from becoming sick, breastfeeding may help you lose weight. Many women who breastfed their babies said it helped them get back to their pre-pregnancy weight more quickly, but experts are still looking at the effects of breastfeeding on weight loss.

How does breastfeeding benefit society?

Society benefits overall when mothers breastfeed.

• Breastfeeding saves lives. Recent research shows that if 90% of families breastfed exclusively for 6 months, nearly 1,000 deaths among infants could be prevented.
• Breastfeeding saves money. The United States would also save $2.2 billion per year — medical care costs are lower for fully breastfed infants than never-breastfed infants. Breastfed infants usually need fewer sick care visits, prescriptions, and hospitalizations.
• Breastfeeding also helps make a more productive workforce. Mothers who breastfeed miss less work to care for sick infants than mothers who feed their infants formula. Employer medical costs are also lower.
• Breastfeeding is better for the environment. Formula cans and bottle supplies create more trash and plastic waste. Your milk is a renewable resource that comes packaged and warmed.

How does breastfeeding help in an emergency?

During an emergency, such as natural disaster, breastfeeding can save your baby's life:

• Breastfeeding protects your baby from the risks of an unclean water supply.
• Breastfeeding can help protect your baby against respiratory illnesses and diarrhea.
• Your milk is always at the right temperature for your baby. It helps to keep your baby's body temperature from dropping too low.
• Your milk is readily available without needing other supplies.

B-Gut: Natural Source of Colostrum:

• NATURAL IMMUNE SYSTEM ENHANCER AND REGULATOR DESIGNED BY NATURE.
• Colostrum contains large numbers of antibodies called "secretory  immunoglobulin"  (IgA)
• IgA help protect the mucous membranes in the throat, lungs, and intestines.
• Colostrum also contains high concentrations of leukocytes, protective white cells which can destroy disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

HUMORAL IMMUNITY/ACTIVE IMMUNITY:

The Plasma Cell Secretes Antibodies The Antibodies Are Immunoglobulins.

Divided Into 5 Main Classes ; IgG; IgM; IgA; IgD; And IgE.

These Antibodies Circulate In The Body And Act Directly By Neutralising The Microbe, Or Neutralising The Toxin, 

Is the transfer of active humoral immunity in the form of readymade antibodies, from one individual to another. Like COLOSTRUM/ VACCINE

• In natural P.I, ( Passive Immunity )antibodies are passed from a mother to a child. Antibodies can be transferred through the placenta, or transmitted through the colostrum.
• The antibodies transmitted through the colostrum and placenta generally only last for several weeks, which is long enough to allow the baby to start to build up its own immune system and to make its own antibodies

Colostrum does not contain Casein –protein.

• High amount of immunoglobulin
• High % of IgG as compared to normal milk.

Trust this blog enhances your knowledge and increase trust in our Products. We will keep update you new information, new articles about Health Awareness. 

Our Motto is  to keep World Healthy and we are well determined to it.

HAPPY READING..

P.A.I.D, (Patient Awareness Initiative Department) Quest Biotech India Pvt. Ltd.