Breastfeeding which is also known as nursing is the feeding of babies and young children with milk from women’s breast. World breastfeeding week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August to promote and encourage breastfeeding. As it important, Doctors says that breastfeeding begins within the first hour of baby’s life and ends till baby wants.
Did you know?
Mothers and babies can form a closer bond by breastfeeding. The close contact makes the baby feels more secure and comfortable as the oxytocin release can help to keep body calm.
Reasons why breastfeeding is necessary
• It helps to support baby immune system.
• It is easy to digest.
• Producing milk burn 500 calories per day.
• It reduces the risk of allergies.
• It naturally helps mother body to recover from pregnancy.
• It reduces the risk of breast cancer
During the first few weeks of life babies may nurse roughly every two to three hours, and the duration of a feeding is usually ten to fifteen minutes on each breast. Older children feed less often. Mothers may pump milk so that it can be used later when breastfeeding is not possible. Breastfeeding has a number of benefits to both mother and baby, which infant formula lacks.
Deaths of an estimated 820,000 children under the age of five could be prevented globally every year with increased breastfeeding. Breastfeeding decreases the risk of respiratory tract disease and diarrhoea for the baby, both in developing and developed countries Other benefits include lower risks of asthma, food allergies. Breastfeeding may also improve cognitive development and decrease the risk of obesity in adulthood. Mothers may feel pressure to breastfeed, but in the developed world children generally grow up normally when bottle fed with formula
Benefits for the mother include less blood loss following delivery, better uterus shrinkage, and decreased postpartum depression. Breastfeeding delays the return of menstruation and fertility, a phenomenon known as lactational amenorrhea. Long-term benefits for the mother include decreased risk of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Breastfeeding is also less expensive than infant formula.
Health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), recommend breastfeeding exclusively for six months. This means that no other foods or drinks, other than possibly vitamin D, are typically given. After the introduction of foods at six months of age, recommendations include continued breastfeeding until one to two years of age or more.
LACTATION
Changes early in pregnancy prepare the breast for lactation. Before pregnancy the breast is largely composed of adipose (fat) tissue but under the influence of the hormones estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, and other hormones, the breasts prepare for production of milk for the baby. There is an increase in blood flow to the breasts. Pigmentation of the nipples and areola also increases. Size increases as well, but breast size is not related to the amount of milk that the mother will be able to produce after the baby is born.
By the second trimester of pregnancy colostrum, a thick yellowish fluid, begins to be produced in the alveoli and continues to be produced for the first few days after birth until the milk “comes in”, around 30 to 40 hours after delivery. Oxytocin contracts the smooth muscle of the uterus during birth and following delivery, called the postpartum period, while breastfeeding. Oxytocin also contracts the smooth muscle layer of band-like cells surrounding the alveoli to squeeze the newly produced milk into the duct system. Oxytocin is necessary for the milk ejection reflex, or let-down, in response to suckling to occur
METHODS
• Expressed milk
• Shared nursing
• Tandem nursing
• Induced lactation
• Re-lactation
By Diya Yadav
B. Sc. Agriculture (IIIrd semester)
