The Science and Art of Breast Feeding

Jodibala Haobijam *

Worldwide, 1-7 August every year has been observed as Breast feeding week. Breastfeeding has been recommended as method of infant feeding which is the most natural and beneficial acts a mother can do for her child. From the pass event it has been proof that the health benefits of a child is only through exclusive breast feeding. The exclusive nutrients benefits in mother's milk are incalculable which helps to prevent a number of childhood diseases.

Nothing can replace the composition of breast milk, no matter how many vitamins, minerals and supplements are added to what is basically a chemical formulation which is available in the markets. Breast milk remains the one and only natural, complete and complex nutrition for human infants. Its formula ensured the health and quality of life for infants, through childhood to adult life.

One of the best-kept secrets about breastfeeding is that it's as healthy for mothers as for babies. It helps lactation to continue the natural physiologic process begun with conception and pregnancy and at the same time it provides many short and long-term health benefits. These issues are rarely emphasized in prenatal counselling by health care professionals.

Breastfeeding makes the mothers both physically and emotionally healthy. It's time for this well-kept secret to come out. As word spreads about these little-known facts, more mothers will not merely choose to breastfeed briefly to provide early disease protection for their baby, but will continue to breastfeed, providing optimal outcomes both for their children and for themselves.

Immediately after birth, the repeated suckling of the baby releases oxytocin from the mother's pituitary gland. This hormone not only signals the breasts to release milk to the baby (this is known as the milk ejection reflex, or "let-down"), but simultaneously produces contractions in the uterus. The resulting contractions prevent postpartum haemorrhage and promote uterine involution, the return to a pre-pregnant state.

As long as a mother breastfeeds without substituting formula, foods, or pacifiers for feedings at the breast, the return of her menstrual periods is delayed .Unlike bottle-feeding mothers, who typically get their periods back within six to eight weeks, breastfeeding mothers can often stay amenorrhea for several months. This condition has the important benefit of conserving iron in the mother's body and often provides natural spacing of pregnancies.

The natural child-spacing achieved through lactational amenorrhea method ensures the optimal survival of each child, and the physical recovery of the mother between pregnancies. In contrast, the bottle-feeding mother needs to start contraception within six weeks of the birth.

The varying composition of breastmilk keeps pace with the infant's individual growth and changing nutritional needs. Babies who are fed from the breast have been shown to have four times fewer gastrointestinal and respiratory infections which have been shown to reduce mortality and morbidity rates due to this illness .

It also helps physically and mentally superior to those fed on formula, showing greater facility at learning how to walk and talk. Dental and facial development was shown to be superior in breasted children than in formula-fed Indeed, the physiological benefits for both mother and child are numerous. Breastfed infants develop higher IQ's, and have improved brain and nervous system development.

Consistent study results concerning the psychosocial benefits are more elusive. Breastfeeding provides a unique interaction between mother and child, an automatic, skin-to-skin closeness and nurturing that bottle-feeding mothers have to work to replicate. Breastfed babies enjoy a special warm bonding and emotional relationship with their mothers. It also plays an important role in the emotional and spiritual development of babies.

The child's suckling at the breast produces a special hormonal milieu for the mother. Prolactin, the milk-making hormone, appears to produce a special calmness in mothers. Breastfeeding mothers have been shown to have a less intense response to adrenaline. The hormones produced during nursing have an endorphin effect giving mother a relaxed feeling.

Breastfeeding provides mothers with more long-term benefits after birth. Production of milk is an active metabolic process, requiring the use of 200 to 500 calories per day, on average. It is particularly important for mothers who have had gestational diabetes have lower blood sugars than non breastfeeding mothers. For these women who are already at increased risk of developing diabetes, the optimal weight loss from breastfeeding may translate into a decreased risk of diabetes in later life.

Another important element used in producing milk is calcium. Because women lose calcium while lactating, some health professionals have mistakenly assumed an increased risk of osteoporosis for women who breastfeed. However, current studies show that after weaning their children, breastfeeding mothers' bone density returns to prepregnancy or even higher levels. In the long-term, lactation may actually result in stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis. In fact, recent studies have confirmed that women who did not breastfeed have a higher risk of hip fractures after menopause.

Numerous studies have looked at the association and relationship between breastfeeding and breast cancer, the results has been conflicting. Despite this, it is now estimated that breastfeeding from six to 24 months throughout a mother's reproductive lifetime may reduce the risk of breast cancer by 11 to 25 percent. This phenomenon may also be due to suppressed ovulation and low estrogens, but a local effect relating to the normal physiologic function of the breast may also be involved. This was suggested by a study in which mothers who traditionally breastfed on only one side had significantly higher rates of cancer in the unsuckled breast.

Breastfeeding is a simple way mothers can contribute for the better world of her baby. It saves food resources, fuel and energy. No packaging and no chemicals are needed. It is also very convenient, cheap, portable and the perfect soothing for a baby. It's not just about nutrition, but about bonding and spending time with mother and baby. But most of all, many mothers find breastfeeding an enjoyable, positive and uplifting experience.

Mothers and babies need to be kept together as much as possible. This helps the successful initiation of breast feeding and fosters the mother-baby relationship. Interventions to improve early infant feeding practices can result in considerable reductions in neonatal mortality. All-cause neonatal mortality could be reduced if all infants initiated breastfeeding on day 1 of life and if initiation took place within the first hour.

The risk of neonatal death is increased approximately fourfold if milk-based fluids or solids are provided to breastfed neonates. The Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding describes the essential interventions to promote, protect and support exclusive breastfeeding.