Feeding is an important concern for newborn baby. What to feed and how to start with is very important from the beginning of life. Breast milk is the balanced diet for the baby. No food is equal or near to breast milk. It should be started as early as possible and preferably before one hour since birth. It should be continued exclusively for 6 months and at completion of 6 months baby should be weaned to other foods along with breast feeding .
Breastfeeding and its benefit
Optimum breastfeeding has two dimensional advantages
1) It provides unique benefits to breast milk.
2) It protects from disadvantages of other milk and fluids.
A publicity leaflet by the TIBS support group, Trinidad has depicted the advantages of breast milk very nicely.
Some advantages of breastfeeding.
B - Best for baby.
R -Reduces incidence of allergies.
E - Economical. No waste.
A - Antibodies-give immunity to infection.
S -Stool inoffensive-never constipated.
T - Temperature always correct and constant.
F - Fresh milk -never get sour in the breast.
E - Emotional bonding
E - Easy once established.
D - Digested easily within 2-3 hours.
I - Immediately available.
N -Nutritionally balanced.
G -Gastroenteritis greatly reduced.
The benefits of breastfeeding can be described at three different levels.
1) To the baby.
a) Food security nutrition.
b) Disease control.
c) Caring practice /Psychological aspect.
d) Neurodevelopment
2) To the mother.
3) To the family and to the nation.
Benefit to the baby . 1. Food security: Nutrition, growth and development.
It is now obvious that breast milk supplies appropriate amount of all the proximate food principles including micronutrient to ensure better nutrition. No animal milk or formula milk can mimic breast milk in respect to quality, quantity, bio-availability and proportionality of all constituents.
2. Disease control
Breast milk is the first and best natural immunization to the baby. It reduces the disease load remarkably.
a. Diarrhea: Various studies have shown that the rate of both the morbidity and mortality from diarrhea and related conditions are lower in breastfed than in artificially fed infants According to a study risk of diarrhea in the absence of breastfeeding may be as high as 5 to 17 times .This risk of diarrhea is inversely related to the amount of breast feeding .An exclusively breast fed infant has 15 times less chance of morbidity and 25 times less chance of mortality from diarrhea than a bottle fed infant . Though this is particularly true for developing countries, it also holds true for industrialized countries.
b. Acute respiratory tract infection (ARI)
Breastfeeding protects infants from ARI, the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries .The incidence of ARI is about 3 times less in breastfed infants compared with full breastfed infants
c. Long term health: Non infectious disease control:
The benefits of breast feeding are not limited to the preventions of acute infectious diseases in infancy only but also from other noninfectious diseases. There is evidence that breast milk protect from allergic diseases. Food allergies appears to be less frequent in infant who are exclusively breastfed .Breast feeding delays the development of atopic dermatitis, particularly in allergic families
3. Caring Practice:
Breast feeding is the best example of caring practices .It helps in the development of strong psychological bonding between mother and child. It has great impact on psychological, emotional and personality development and physical growth of the child. Lack of this bonding may cause emotional distress, speech, language, and learning problem in childhood.
4. Neurodevelopment:Breastfed babies are more intelligent, have less speech difficulties, with higher score in vocabulary
Benefit to the mother:
Breast feeding also helps mother in various ways.
Suckling soon after birth helps in early expulsion of placenta
Decreases post partum hemorrhage (bleeding through vagina after birth). Continuing breastfeeding helps early involution of the uterus.
Breastfeeding helps in birth spacing by its contraceptive effects.
Breast feeding protect mother from breast and ovarian cancer.
A feeling of well being is more common phenomena in a diabetic mother during lactation.
Benefit to the family :
Breast feeding also helps the family economically.
Benefit to the nation:
Breast feeding offers important economic advantages to national budget, family planning program and hospital expenditures.