Benefits of Breastfeeding

I read a news on the website today that the rate of breastfeeding in Asia-Pacific decreased. Maybe some of the causes of this are wrong information like for example they heard that commercial milk feeding is more nutritious than the milk from the mother.

There was a study conducted about breastfeeding and the good news is it helps lower baby mortality rate. Here are the advantages of breastfeeding:

1. Breastmilk is the only food specifically designed, by nature, to meet your baby's individual needs.
2. It contains the right balance of nutrients in a very easily digestible form.
3. Antibodies are passed on through breast milk to protect your baby from all kinds of infection. The longer you can feed your baby the better but if you breastfeed for the first three or four months this protection can last for up to a year.
4. Your baby is much less likely to need to be admitted to hospital.
5. Your baby is less likely to develop diarrhea or constipation.
6. Breastfeeding reduced the incidence of allergies such as eczema and asthma.

Breast milk contains growth factors and hormones to help your baby's development. These cannot be reproduced in formula milk. Children who have breastfed for eight months or more have been shown to achieve more at school than those who have been bottle fed.

Advantages to the mother:

1. Breastfeeding helps your body to return to normal after the birth and burns up to 500 calories a day.
2. Breast milk is always ready and it costs nothing
3. Women who breastfeed often feel a special bond with their baby and may be less likely to develop postnatal depression.
4. Breastfeeding may offer you some protection against developing ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and hip fractures.

Right now the Philippines is also affected by this news. Breastfeeding can help lower the mortality rate of our babies in the Philippines.