Women's milk is optimised to meet the needs of the human baby. However, breastfeeding is also good for the health and well-being of the mother. This has been known for several years. And researchers are still finding new, positive effects of breast milk.
This topic is of particular concern to new mums. After all, breastfeeding is often more of a challenge than fun, especially in the first few days and weeks. It is therefore worth knowing how many positive aspects breastfeeding has in order to make the often bumpy start to routine breastfeeding. Against the background that the Advertising promises of the infant formula industry have an influence on breastfeeding behaviour and breastfeeding advice, it is all the more important to know the benefits of breastfeeding.
However, I also receive questions from mothers who are unsure whether breastfeeding is worthwhile at all. After all, they believe that there are also high-quality infant formulas for bottle feeding. I would therefore like to summarise the most important benefits of breastfeeding for you and your child. It's not just the babies who benefit enormously, but also the mums.
But first an important note: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also long recommended that babies should be exclusively breastfed for six months. Scientists have recently reviewed this recommendation and reaffirmed it confirmed.
Breastfeeding is the best thing for your baby
Breastfeeding always fits perfectly: The exact composition of breast milk is customised for the healthy growth and development of your baby. This means that breast milk changes depending on the child's age, stage of development and current situation (e.g. illness). This starts with the colostrum, which the baby drinks first after birth. This contains a particularly large amount of nutrients and antibodies, is low in fat and is also very easy for the newborn to digest. After a few days, the milk becomes higher in fat and sugar so that the baby has energy to grow.
Nature has also perfectly organised the respective breastfeeding times. When the baby begins to suckle, a slightly more watery milk flows into its mouth. This is referred to as the Foremilkwhich quenches the baby's thirst well. Hunger is then satisfied a few minutes later by the fat- and nutrient-rich so-called Hindmilk.
In addition, breast milk is always at the perfect temperature, hygienically "packaged" and ready for immediate consumption. The baby doesn't have to wait long for its meal.
Breastfeeding offers the baby immune protection: Breast milk is a real immune booster, as it not only contains all the valuable nutrients your child needs, but is also full of important antibodies. These include protective antibodies from the mother, which she passes on to her baby with the milk.
Nevertheless, pathogens sometimes settle in the child and are transferred to the mother via the nipple during breastfeeding. Her body reacts promptly to the pathogens and produces antibodies against them. The baby then absorbs these antibodies in its breast milk. As a result, infections and illnesses in the child are prevented or minimised in the best possible way. This is a very remarkable protective cycle of nature!
Incidentally, it has now also been proven that breastfed children are less likely to suffer from respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. The same applies to middle ear infections.
Breastfeeding even reduces the risk of chronic diseases in children: There is growing scientific evidence that the risk of breastfed children developing allergies is lower than that of non-breastfed children. This is particularly true for babies with an increased risk of allergies (if at least one parent already suffers from an allergy). Researchers are still working on the final proof. There is also a serious assumption that the risk of breastfed children developing chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes or asthma later in life is lower. Breastfeeding is also believed to be a decisive factor in this.
Breastfeeding is less likely to lead to sudden infant death syndrome: There is already clear evidence that breastfed children have a Much lower risk have, on Sudden infant death syndrome to die. One Study came to the conclusion that this risk is almost halved for babies who are breastfed for at least two months! And the longer you breastfeed your child, the stronger this protection becomes.
Breastfeeding promotes brain development in children: Various studies show that the development of a child's brain is optimally influenced by breastfeeding. This means that breastfeeding promotes your child's cognitive abilities. For example, a US study shows that the brains of infants and pre-school children who were exclusively breastfed for the first three months contain 20 to 30 per cent more of the so-called "white brain matter". This consists mainly of millions of long "connecting cables" (nerve tracts). They have a very important task - they connect different regions in the brain with each other and transport information or signals as quickly as possible to the different areas. In short: better networked brains learn better! And the more someone learns, the more the white matter in their brain increases.
Breastfeeding supports good jaw development: The baby's mouth movements when sucking on the breast have a positive effect on the development of the child's jaw. The baby also trains its cheek, tongue and lip muscles at the same time. These are all part of the child's speech tools and enable it to pronounce words correctly later on. So breastfeeding ultimately also favours learning to speak.
In addition, when breastfeeding, the baby learns to breathe through the nose and to swallow while sucking.
Breastfeeding strengthens the child's bond with the mother: Breastfeeding means much more to your baby than just feeding. While it lies and sucks at your breast, it also feels maximum security and safety. This also intensifies the child's bond with the mother enormously. It is not for nothing that breastfeeding counselling is always also relationship counselling.
And another thing: breastfeeding also lowers the child's stress level in general, as the little body releases significantly fewer stress hormones as a result. This is not only good for the baby alone, but also for its bond and relationship with both parents. Everything simply works better with a more relaxed child!
Breastfeeding strengthens premature babies in particular: Breast milk is of course the best thing for all babies, but children who are born prematurely benefit particularly greatly from breastfeeding. For them, breast milk is therefore by far the greatest tonic that their mothers can give them. Why? Because these tiny tots are often particularly dependent on good immune protection and support for brain development. For example, studies have shown that premature babies who were fed exclusively on breast milk had developed significantly better cognitive abilities by the age of five than those premature babies who were fed only or also artificial milk formula. Incidentally, the immature gastrointestinal tract of premature babies can also process breast milk better. In addition, it has been shown that breastfed premature babies are usually able to leave the maternity hospital sooner than small, premature "bottle-fed babies".
Elaja has developed unique breastfeeding clothing that gives you confidence when breastfeeding - whether during your workout or in everyday life. Your well-being is elaja's top priority. You get 10% discount on all products. Simply enter the following code when ordering: NOTDIENSTHEBAMME10
The best for the mum
Breastfeeding improves involution: While a mother is breastfeeding her baby, her body releases hormones as mentioned above. These include prolactin and oxytocin. These hormones not only promote healing at the site where the detached PlacentaThe breastfeeding process is not just about leaving a wound on the inner wall of the uterus, it also favours the involution of the uterus overall. Breastfeeding simply allows it to contract better. As a result, women who have recently given birth also lose less blood with the uterus. Lochia and are also less likely to suffer from infections.
Breastfeeding promotes the health of the mother: The hormone oxytocin, which mothers release during breastfeeding, also has a mood-enhancing effect. Accordingly, breastfeeding women are also less likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. Breastfeeding also reduces the mother's risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes - for life! It has also been proven that the longer a mother breastfeeds, the lower her risk of later developing certain types of cancer, such as breast cancer. More research is still needed to find out why this is the case. Changes in breast structure and a reduced hormonal influence probably also play a role here. However, there is no longer any doubt about this, that the risk of cancer is reduced by breastfeeding.
Incidentally, the longer a woman breastfeeds, the better the remaining fat reserves from pregnancy melt away. Breastfeeding therefore even helps to reduce weight in the long term.
Breastfeeding strengthens the bond between mother and child: With regard to the baby, I have already mentioned that breastfeeding strengthens its relationship with the mother. But the reverse is also true - breastfeeding also strengthens the mother's bond with her child. This is strongly promoted by the hormone oxytocin, which is released during breastfeeding. Research has observed this in detail: As a result, breastfeeding women maintain significantly longer eye contact with their child, they respond more quickly to baby's needs and also touch it tenderly much more often than non-breastfeeding women. In this context, scientists speak of "enhanced maternal behaviour", which they attribute to the increased oxytocin levels in breastfeeding mothers after each breastfeed.
Breastfeeding gives you more sleep: If your baby "reports" hunger during the night, it can be fed quickly and easily at your breast. Quite a few women also give their baby the breast while lying down, so mum and baby don't have to be "wide awake" in the first place. This also allows them to fall asleep more quickly after breastfeeding. Some mothers also keep their baby in bed with them. Also read my article on this question Safe baby sleep on my blog. But even if you get up at night to breastfeed, you save yourself the work of preparing the bottle. Researchers have done the maths: Breastfeeding mums can enjoy up to 45 minutes more sleep per night!
The breast is always ready for baby's hunger: It also means less stress for the mother to always have the perfectly tempered and mixed milk meal for her baby easily available at any time. Especially when travelling, many women appreciate not having to fiddle around with bottles, mixing and heating.
Breastfeeding saves resources: Breastfeeding mums save time - and a lot of money too! They don't have to buy milk powder, bottles, teats and other accessories to feed their little one. This eliminates the time and energy needed to buy and prepare the bottles and to clean and sterilise the utensils. But also not insignificant: you also save a lot of money by breastfeeding and can simply put your baby on your breast to feed for free and conveniently.
My conclusion: breastfeeding only has advantages
Feeding your child while breastfeeding is also the most natural thing in the world. So it couldn't be better.
Of course, I also know that some women cannot or do not want to breastfeed their baby for important reasons. This is to be respected, especially as very good and safe infant formula is available today. If you are also bottle-feeding your child, just make sure that you accompany him or her (not only when drinking) with long and loving looks and give him or her all your tenderness, even if the hormone oxytocin doesn't help you. If you would like to read more about this, you can find here a post about bottle feeding on my blog.
Otherwise, every extra week that you feed your baby with breast milk in the first six months is a benefit for you and your child. It is not for nothing that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends full breastfeeding for the first six months.
It is important that mums prepare for the birth and breastfeeding. Especially at the beginning, many mums and babies need support until breastfeeding works well.
Many women are surprised after giving birth that they have problems at first, that breastfeeding can cause pain at the beginning and that breast inflammation can also occur when the milk comes in. Therefore, prepare yourself well for breastfeeding. The Online breastfeeding course from midwife Katharina will help you prepare for and overcome the challenges for you and your baby during the breastfeeding period. You can get midwife support for breastfeeding problems from midwife Katharina in her Video consultation. Health insurance companies also pay for this help with questions about breastfeeding.
5 responses