Why Breast is Best for New Babies

by Rachel

New babies deserve the absolute best start to a healthy life than we can offer.  This often begins with a mother’s choice to breast or bottle feed her new infant.  No mother wants to do something that’s wrong for her new baby, yet many mistakenly believe that high-priced, over advertised formula will give their baby a healthier start than their own milk.  And why wouldn’t they?  After all, most hospitals and doctor’s offices offer free samples upon delivery and hospital discharge, encouraging even breastfeeding mothers to “keep some formula on hand just in case.”  This often send the message to these new mother’s that failure is inevitable and they should be ready to pop open a formula can when it happens.

Forget the baby formula hype and even what you may have heard amongst your friends and family.  The Academy of pediatrics  encourages all new mother’s to at least begin their child’s first few days of life on the breast in order to give them the protein rich,  immune fighting nutrients found in a mother’s pre-milk called colostrum.  Of course the Academy encourages all new mother’s to continue to breastfeed for at least the first year, but acknowledges that if most would just start off with their new babies on the breast, many future illnesses and afflictions could be avoided.

The facts are clear: breastfeeding helps protect children from a variety of common ailments including:

•    chronic ear infections
•    childhood (and adult) obesity – since a baby learns to eat until satisfied on the breast (never being forced to finish a bottle), they learn how to avoid overeating instinctually on the breast.
•    severe allergies
•    food allergies – since breastfed babies have limited (and safe) contact with a a variety of foods through their mother’s milk, they are less apt to develop allergies to food products in the future.
•    breast cancer ( a female child who is breastfed at least 12 months has a 50% less chance of getting breast cancer as an adult than formula fed babies.  That same women, who breastfeeds her own children for 1 year cuts her chances of getting breast cancer by another 50% — amazing!).
•    asthma
•    infections – since breastmilk offers constant immunity protection through a variety of essential nutrients, most breastfed babies tend to have stronger immune systems both as infants and beyond.
•    Diarrhea –
•    juvenile diabetes
•    and even SIDS – no one knows why for sure, but far less breastfed babies die of SIDS than formula fed ones.

Plus, breastfeeding for 6-12 months has also been linked to children with higher IQ’s; better neurological development and even clearer eyesight.

Considering the abundant evidence to the myriad of health benefits breastfeeding offers, doesn’t it make sense to at least give it a try?  Although most experts agree that breastfeeding new babies for at least 12 months gives them the most benefit, even a few days or weeks can offer a baby important germ fighting immunities and other benefits to last a lifetime.

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