Breastfeeding Gives Babies a Healthy Start

The benefits of breastfeeding are many and immediate in giving babies a healthy start, but it’s not just good for babies, there are also benefits for the breastfeeding parent too.

Human breast milk is a great source of nutrition for babies. It meets all of a baby’s nutritional needs and it has long-term benefits that will last into adulthood. The US Dietary Guidelines for Americans along with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend that infants be exclusively breastfed for about 6 months and then gradually introduced to appropriate foods all while continuing to breastfeed until the baby is 12 months to 2 years of age or older.

• Breastmilk is the best source of nutrition for most babies.  It’s easily digestible. And, as a baby grows, the breastmilk adapts to meet the baby’s nutritional needs.
• Breastfeeding is convenient and saves time!  Babies can be breastfed anytime and anywhere.  Breastfeeding parents don’t have to worry about mixing, heating, or preparing bottles.
• Breastfeeding saves money!  Breast milk is free and breastfed babies tend to get sick less often, helping reduce health care costs.
• Breastfeeding is comforting!  Babies love to snuggle, and breastfeeding offers a great opportunity to make them feel safe, warm, secure, and loved.

There are medical benefits to breastfeeding as well. Research shows breastfeeding can protect the parent who is breastfeeding and the baby from several illnesses and diseases. Breastmilk contains antibodies that come from the breastfeeding parent. For example, if a parent gets immunized for a specific disease, these antibodies can be present in the breastmilk providing the baby with some protection from that disease. Antibodies in breastmilk help to protect babies from illnesses and help them to develop strong immune systems.

Benefits of breastfeeding for the parent include reducing the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Skin-to-skin contact from breastfeeding raises the levels of oxytocin, a hormone that reduces bleeding after delivery, helps breastmilk flow, and is calming.

Benefits of breastfeeding for the baby include lower risk of asthma, obesity, type 1 diabetes, severe lower respiratory disease, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), gastrointestinal infections (diarrhea/vomiting), and in preterm infants, a decreased risk of Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which is an inflammation of the intestines.

Any amount of breast milk will have a positive benefit and the longer a baby is breastfed, the greater the benefits and the longer those benefits will last.

August is National Breast-Feeding Awareness month dedicated to advancing advocacy, protection, and promotion of breastfeeding. If you are interested in learning more, please visit the World Health Organization at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/infant-and-young-child-feeding