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The mother’s breast milk is the normal food for all human babies and consequently promotes the optimum growth and development.
The WHO recommends exclusive (no other milk or fluids) breastfeeding for the first six months of the baby’s life, and then continued breastfeeding up to two years of age, with the addition of appropriate complementary foods introduced at around six months.
Not breastfeeding carries a risk of increased illness, infections and developmental problems for ALL babies, even in the best of circumstances.
Babies are born with a very immature immune system and breast milk provides very effective protection against infection for as long as the baby/ child breastfeeds. As the mother ingests and breathes in microbes in the environment, she produces antibodies and then passes them to the baby in her breast milk.
Her milk also provides protection against many infections that she has had in the past, or been vaccinated against such as chickenpox, measles, mumps, rubella etc. Babies who are NOT breastfed are statistically more likely to have middle ear infections, upper respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis and to be hospitalised in the first year of life – no matter where they live and how good their family circumstances are.
There are benefits for the mother too. Breastfeeding releases the hormone oxytocin, which helps the uterus return to its pre-pregnancy size and may reduce uterine bleeding after birth. Breastfeeding also lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. It may lower the risk of osteoporosis too.
