BREAST FEEDING – GENERAL INFORMATION
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 | 6:41 amThe composition of breast milk creates a low pH in the bowel and this favors colonisation with the lactobacillus bacterium which keeps out the bacteria which can cause infection.
Because breast milk is ideally suited to the baby’s digestion there are few digestive upsets in the breast fed baby.
There are a number of old wives tales about breast feeding and the one most wrong is that the mother’s milk is not suitable for her baby. This is often invoked as a reason to explain some failure of the baby to gain sufficient weight. The baby may not be getting enough milk but with very rare exceptions breast milk is always right for the baby. Those exceptions are due to some rare diseases.
If there is a strong family history of allergy, that is with family members suffering from hayfever, asthma and eczema, then avoiding the foreign proteins of cow’s milk and other substitutes and sticking to breast milk will reduce the risk of allergy.
Breast feeding has many emotional advantages both for the mother and child and leads to better “bonding” between them. Almost every woman can breast feed if she wants to. This decision is best taken during pregnancy and should be strongly encouraged by the health care professionals with whom she comes in contact. Attention and care to the breasts and nipples during pregnancy prepares them for more successful breast feeding.
Of course, breast feeding, while entirely natural, may not always be trouble free. Some feeding mothers run into problems because of retracted nipples or may get a cracked nipple which causes pain.
The breast may become engorged with milk and painful, or the supply of milk may be inadequate. The baby may be premature or sick and have difficulty in sucking strongly.
These are problems which can all be overcome.
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(posted in General health)
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