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Provided by UVA Health
August is National Breastfeeding Month, which raises awareness of breastfeeding benefits and highlights maternal nutrition and infant health. If you’re going to breastfeed for the first time or could use a refresher, take a few minutes to learn why nursing your child can help make a positive difference for a baby and mom.
Breastfeeding, which is also called nursing, is when your body produces milk that you feed your baby, usually directly from the breast. The infant will attach their mouth to your breast and drink milk by sucking. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that mothers begin breastfeeding within one hour of birth and continue breastfeeding for at least the first six months of life.
At first, your breast milk will be a thick, protein-rich liquid called colostrum, which helps the baby stay hydrated. It’s also full of antibodies that protect your newborn against common infections. After the first few days of breastfeeding, colostrum will transition to mature milk.
“Breastfeeding provides newborn babies with essential calories, minerals, and vitamins that promote healthy growth and development,” says Vivian Nzedu, MD, Pediatrician for UVA Health at Pediatrics Manassas. Key nutrients and fats that are essential for physical and brain development and healthy intestinal flora for your baby’s gut are also present. The proteins are also easily digestible and essential for growth. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding, where possible, for the first six months, with continuation of breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced for one year or longer, as mutually desired by mother and infant.
How Breastfeeding Benefits Your Baby
Your milk is tailor-made for your little one, with certain nutrients that babies need to mature and grow. Research highlights the significant value it provides to infants and their mothers.
For instance, breastfed babies are less likely to have allergies and dental cavities. Overall, facial development is another benefit that you may not think of when it comes to breastfeeding. But when a baby nurses, it helps their teeth and jaw form properly. Even speech can be positively affected.
Better-known benefits include how breastfeeding helps protect against illnesses and health conditions, including:
- Asthma
- Certain childhood cancers
- Childhood obesity
- Ear infections
- Stomach disorders
- Type 2 diabetes
- Upper and lower respiratory illnesses
- Viruses, colds, strep, staph, and e coli infections
Breastfeeding and Antibodies
Another form of protection from illness for your newborn is the immune molecules, called antibodies, that are in your milk. Your body’s immune system makes antibodies to help you fight illnesses.
Newborn babies have very immature immune systems, which means they can’t fight illness-causing germs as easily as older children and adults. Through your breast milk, you give your baby immunity to the same illnesses you’re immune to and those you’ve been exposed to.
Dr. Nzedu adds that breast milk composition changes and adapts to your baby’s age. A premature mother’s breast milk composition is different from that of a full-term mother, so it provides the right balance of nutrition for every stage of your baby’s life. Breast milk also has antibodies, including Secretory IgA that are passively transferred from moms to babies, so this personalized dose of antibodies helps keep babies protected from illnesses moms previously encountered and coats the baby’s immature gut, thereby preventing pathogens from attaching and causing illness.
Of course, even breastfed babies may get sick. But the illness is usually less severe and shorter-lasting when the baby is receiving human milk.
How Breastfeeding Benefits the Mother
There are also physical and emotional benefits for mothers who exclusively nurse their babies. Breastfeeding may:
- Turn off symptoms of metabolic syndrome
This includes the temporary state of insulin resistance and higher body fat and cholesterol levels, which mothers need during pregnancy. But after the baby is born, those symptoms need a “reset,” or they could lead to a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease. Breastfeeding helps reset metabolic syndrome to return the mom’s body to a healthier state.
- Help protect mental health
By lowering the inflammatory response caused by stress hormones, nursing helps lower a woman’s risk of depression. This doesn’t mean a mother who is breastfeeding won’t get depressed, but her risk is lower, and breastfeeding may help her cope.
- Enhance a sense of well-being
Breastfeeding that’s going well increases oxytocin, which is often called the “feel-good hormone.” It can help a new mother cope with the stresses and challenges of caring for an infant along with other responsibilities.
- Improve the quantity and quality of sleep
Several large studies have shown that mothers who exclusively breastfeed their babies report sleeping longer and having more energy during the day. Better sleep also helps them cope more easily with mothering demands.
Challenges With Breastfeeding?
Not every baby latches on right away. Sometimes your milk supply may be low, or it may be high. These and other situations can make breastfeeding uncomfortable or stressful for you and your baby.
Women may face multiple problems while breastfeeding, says Dr. Nzedu. “For example, some women may have challenges breastfeeding the second baby when they didn’t have problems with the first baby, but no matter what the challenge is, you don’t have to handle it alone. We work with a caring team of professional, board-certified consultants who have experience helping mothers navigate this process. We also have information about breastfeeding that’s available as well.”
UVA Health offers breastfeeding support to all moms who may be coping with breastfeeding challenges, which can be found at uvahealth.com/support/pregnancy-birth/breastfeeding-program.
Postpartum Support
UVA Health will help you navigate your body’s recovery after birth and beyond. Need support with breastfeeding? UVA Health’s team of internationally board-certified lactation consultants are ready to help. Other postpartum concerns supported include getting established with a pediatrician, mental health, and returning to work.
