More important that you think…. World over experts concur over one thing – that breastfeeding your newborn child is the best birthday present you can possibly give.
This being the World Breastfeeding Week, I want to emphasize this important fact that there is no substitute for mothers milk, especially during the first year of your newborn. Mothers should exclusively breastfeed their infants for six months and preferably for 1 year. According to pediatricians breastfeeding protects your newborn against a whole list of diseases in later life such as pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis, builds up the baby’s immune system, and helps mother too recover faster and lose weight faster.
It also helps infants develop higher IQ and helps them bond better with mother, which in turn helps them avoid stress, anxiety, and depression when they become adults. While not each and every one of the above benefits may be readily visible in every infant who has been breastfed, there is sound, evidence-based research that has proven much of the above.
That is why at our natural birthing center we take the effort to be supremely patient with new mothers and help her and her baby with correct techniques of breastfeeding. Even when we have had mothers who needed to have a c-section because of a real medical reason, we take the time and effort to help baby latch and nurse as close to the first hour of birth.
Even when mothers go back to work after some weeks, we recommend that they express breast milk and have it fed with a spoon to their babies by a caregiver at home, so that baby does not get used to the feeding bottle and yet gets the benefit of mother’s milk.
There are specific ways of expressing and storing breast milk. Even the time when you express breast milk is important. More on that in my next post……
Meanwhile, please send in your comments
Dr. Vijaya
-
Mangala
-
Dr.Vijaya