Benefits of breastfeeding: composition of breast milk, essential nutrients for the baby, advice from pediatricians

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

After the birth of a child in a natural way, important hormonal changes occur in a woman's body, prolactin increases and the production of progesterone and purely female estrogens decreases. The child is recommended to be applied to the breast within 1 hour after birth. Then the mother's milk is actively produced and immediately protects the newborn from the effects of intestinal infections.

The benefits of breastfeeding for a baby are undeniable. But this natural process is also important for the he alth of the mother.

The benefits of breastfeeding. How much to breastfeed?

Science cannot and is unlikely to ever be able to create artificially high-grade milk for babies. Natural feeding fully supplies the newborn up to 6 months with all the necessary substances and high-quality immune protection. After 6 months, you can feed with regular food.

Modern researchprove that mother's breast milk is extremely important for the survival and subsequent development of the child in society.

Here's what to say about the benefits of breastfeeding:

• Mom's milk is completely sterile and has the right temperature for digestion.
• Milk contains lactoferrin. It is a multifunctional protein that protects against enteric infections.
• Breastfeeding is necessary for the development of the digestive tract. It has been established that those children who are forced to eat artificial mixtures are more likely to suffer from intestinal problems, since mother's milk is better digested and prepares the intestines for full-fledged work, which is gradually populated with the necessary bacteria.
• Women's milk fully provides the baby with energy resources in the form of fats and carbohydrates.

There is another reason to feed your child yourself. The undoubted benefit of breastfeeding for a child under 6 months is that the baby has to make certain efforts to suck each time. At this time, the lower jaw is actively working in the newborn, due to these efforts, the correct bite is gradually formed.

Pediatricians recommend feeding a newborn every 2-3 hours during the day. And definitely 3 times a night. However, after a year, the regime is completely different.

What it consists of

What can be said about the biological composition of human milk? The composition depends on the stage of its development:

1. At first, on the first day after giving birth, the milk is still very thick. This concentrated viscous composition is not quite milk yet, it iscolostrum. It mainly contains proteins and immunoglobulin for the development of the child's personal immune system.
2. After 5-7 days there is a rush of milk. This is the second stage. It is much thinner in consistency. This transitional type of milk reduces the amount of proteins, but increases the amount of highly digestible sugars and fats.
3. After 1-2 months, the milk goes through the next stage of development. This is already a liquid milk substance that has a lot of sugars and little fat.

Many mothers stop producing milk by 5-8 months. Therefore, the child is gradually preparing to switch to adult food in the form of cereals.

Why does a child need immunoglobulins?

In the last months of pregnancy, natural processes occur in the mammary glands that are responsible for the production of milk. Secretory immunoglobulin slgA is synthesized in milk. This is a protein involved in the creation of antibodies to microbes. From the first days of life, a huge number of harmful microorganisms must be resisted from the first days of life, and mother's milk protects him while the personal immune system is slowly established.

On the baby's birthday, if the mother feels fine and she has no reason to stress, colostrum should stand out. Colostrum contains about 16 mg / ml of immunoglobulins - this is the maximum amount of antimicrobial proteins. Their concentration decreases sharply in mature milk.

Milk fat content

In some periods the milk is thicker, more fat. itpartly depends on air temperature, but also affects fat content and nutrition. When is mom's milk thicker?

First of all, "neighbor" milk is always a little watery and is designed to quench your thirst. Real milk, saturated with the necessary proteins and fats, the child receives after 15 minutes, that is, at the end of feeding. When all the liquid milk is sucked out, the so-called "hind" comes out. Therefore, you should not change breasts.

Secondly, you need proper nutrition and water balance.

As a note to mom, let's say that the baby should not be given a pacifier. He must be strong enough to suck out that rich "hind" milk.

When is artificial blends needed?

No new developments will make natural milk from an artificial mixture. Only with mother's milk will the child receive the necessary proteins and prepared antibodies to viruses.

Artificial feeding should be introduced only in exceptional cases. For example, if a nursing mother gets sick with the flu or another viral infection, then, of course, feeding should be stopped. If a woman did not give birth herself, and the child was born by caesarean section, milk may never appear. Then you will have to constantly give the newborn artificial formula, but the child's he alth will suffer from this.

Benefits

The main advantage of breastfeeding is the complete protection of the baby from bacteria and viruses. Together with immunoglobulin slgA, the baby receiveslysozyme, ready-made antibodies, macrophages, lactoperoxidase and other necessary substances. According to studies, children who were breastfed for a year were less likely to get pneumonia than those who were formula fed.

Nature provides that the benefits of breastfeeding for mother and child are mutual. If milk stagnation occurs in the breast, a woman can get serious inflammation, accompanied by fever, chest pain. This disease is called lactational mastitis. With this disease, the woman is immediately taken to the hospital, and the child has to be fed formulas.

How is it produced?

Inside the mammary gland in a woman there are special cells - alveoli. They produce milk under the action of hormones. Through the ducts and sinuses, food for the baby enters the areola of the nipple.

Milk production depends on the level of production of two hormones: oxytocin and prolactin. If there is little prolactin in the blood, there is either not enough milk, or there is none at all. Prolactin is produced in the anterior pituitary gland during each feeding. Up to 6 months after childbirth, its level can reach 2500 mU / l. Then the level of production decreases significantly. But when a mother feeds her baby with artificial food, her prolactin is at around 500 mU / l.

To understand if your baby is getting enough food, follow him. When there is very little milk, the baby will stop gaining weight or even lose weight. His stool will be quite scanty, and when the mother tries to weanbaby, he will worry, because he was hungry. A well-fed baby will usually fall asleep while feeding.

Hypogalactia - lack of milk

It should be noted that not all women immediately have enough milk. Some take a long time to adjust to normal feeding. If there were problems in childbirth or there was a planned caesarean section with anesthesia, then the milk may come with a delay or not come at all. What is it connected with? This is due to the stress that the woman endured during childbirth.

The stress hormone cortisol blocks normal lactation. In order for milk to be actively produced, oxytocin is needed - the hormone of happiness and satisfaction produced in the pituitary gland. If the mother is nervous, constantly depressed, or simply did not get enough sleep, oxytocin does not enter the blood, therefore, the alveoli of the mammary gland do not push milk to the ducts.

Sometimes, after a caesarean, a woman's milk does not come, or over time it begins to decrease. If you see that growth has stopped, you still need to buy a mixture, and do not allow your baby to lose weight or lack important elements.

Benefits of breastfeeding after one year

Research related to this topic is scarce, because breastfeeding is too personal a topic, and scientists cannot conduct full-fledged experiments, intervene in a woman's private life. Therefore, medicine cannot say anything specific about the benefits of breastfeeding after 1.5 years. However, psychologists working with young children argue that forthe child's psyche benefit undoubtedly exists.

Many mothers go against the advice of a pediatrician who recommends stopping breastfeeding a year and continuing to breastfeed until age 2, 3 or even 4 years. Does it make sense? The benefit of breastfeeding after 2 years is that the baby is still in close emotional and physical contact with the mother. Immune protection from feeding is still there, but it is no longer so tangible.

Such a kid socializes faster in kindergarten and learns better. If a woman is in no hurry to return to work, and she herself enjoys the process of breastfeeding, then breastfeeding can be continued until the moment when milk stops being produced. Or, it happens that a child refuses such feeding after a year.

But there are also negative factors of prolonged breastfeeding. The benefits and harms are considered here in the context of the psychological dependence of the child on the mother. An adult child of three or four years old should already go to kindergarten, communicate with peers, and not be "chained" to his mother.

Benefits for women

Is there any benefit of breastfeeding for mom? There are several benefits for a woman that argue in favor of natural feeding, rather than artificial feeding.

Here are some of them:

1. Mom copes with stress and fatigue more easily.
2. The uterus recovers better as the hormone oxytocin is released during feeding.
3. Milk does not stagnate, reducing the risk of mastitis.
4. Feeding cheers up a woman. Those who regularly feed on their own, without dry mixes, are absolutely not afraid of postpartum depression.
5. The entire reproductive system of a woman rests during the feeding period. This is because prolactin blocks ovulation.

The benefits of breastfeeding for moms are also in reducing the risk of uterine cancer. The reasons for this effect are still not entirely clear to doctors, but, nevertheless, statistics show that women who breastfeed at least up to a year are indeed less likely to suffer from tumors of the female internal genital organs.

Nursing Diet

The benefits of breastfeeding will be visible only when the composition of the milk meets all the needs of the newborn. On such feeding, it is difficult to overfeed a child. Whereas artificial nutrition is not so balanced. In addition, it does not contain lactoferrin. Its absence is a huge disadvantage of artificial mixtures.

But in order for the fat content of women's milk to remain within the normal range, the mother must eat right. This does not mean that you have to overeat in order to produce milk. It is produced under the action of hormones, as we have already said, and not from excess food. But exhausting diets are also not recommended.

How should you eat? To increase the fat content of milk, you need to use more butter, salads with olive oil, sour cream. And, accordingly, when milk is too fatty, these products should be avoided in the diet. In addition to fat-giving oil, a woman needs:

• about 100 grams per day of foods containing proteins;
• apples and pomegranates to maintain good hemoglobin levels;
• fresh vegetables and fruits every day;
• for lactation it is important to eat a little honey;
• about a liter of dairy and fermented milk products.

Greens and spices are also needed. With spices, you need to be careful and watch the reaction of the child. It is undesirable to drink coffee during lactation. Better herbal teas, juices, ginger drink.

A breastfeeding woman should eat cottage cheese, beans, more vegetables and those cereals that are most useful. This is buckwheat, rice, millet. And in semolina, for example, there is no benefit, only extra calories. From vegetables useful celery, broccoli. If the mother has a lack of iodine, it is necessary to eat seaweed - kelp. This is an excellent "supplier" of iodine necessary for the development of the nervous system.

Conclusion

What can you sum up? The benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby are enormous. Lactation is established gradually, and mature milk will appear no earlier than 2-3 weeks after birth. There is no need to panic because the milk does not come on the second day.

Lactation is influenced by many factors. This is the state of he alth of the mother, her mood, nutrition. The medications she may be taking are jeopardizing normal feeding. But even if this is the case, dry mixes can be used in the modern world.

Many believe that the benefits of breastfeeding are exaggerated and the babywill be he althy and active on an artificial mixture, however, recent studies claim that lactoferrin, antigens and macrophages, which are not in mixtures, are the only way to protect a child from various infections and maintain good he alth. At least in the first year of life.