Health Happy Round-Up – Breastfeeding Benefits

Welcome to a weekly series on Traveling with Baby, Health Happy Round-Up which focuses on multiple aspects of wholesome living and optimal health for the entire family.  Each weekend, Traveling with Baby will share some insightful news, recipes, and tips to help you consider fresh new perspectives on wholesome and happy health.

Few will argue the benefits of breastfeeding a newborn.  It’s the perfect food with the bionutrients and perfect ratio of fats, protein, and carbohydrates for a newborn to older baby depending on the stage of their development and maturity.  Breast milk fats/protein/carbos ratio actually changes throughout the course of the year to mimic baby’s gut development and digestion needs!

Breastfeeding benefits to baby:

• Increases baby’s immune defense for faster recovery from illness since the mother is able to create antibodies and distribute them through breast milk to baby
• Reduces cavities and need for braces
• Reduces risk of colic, diarrhea, SIDS, obesity, ear infections, respiratory illness, allergies, diaper rash, osteoporosis, diabetes, infantile cancer, and death
• Increases IQ up to 20 points
• Prevents malnutrition
• Increases social and better psychomotor development of baby
• Promotes better growth and satisfies baby’s need for sucking
• Prevents the development of pathogenic germs in the intestines
• Contains lactoferrin that transports iron and increases immune defense

Breastfeeding Benefits to Mom:

• Increases the mother-infant bonding relationship
• Reduces risk of post-partum depression
• Reduces the reappearance of menstruation, thereby allowing more time until the next pregnancy
• Decreases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer
• Reduces puerperal bleeding and fever
• Promotes the education of others in the family to practice breastfeeding
• Helps a woman realize her role as mother
• It’s practical–moms can nurse frequently throughout the night (without washing bottles), when traveling, anytime and anywhere
• It’s a huge psychological benefit to baby, mom, and the entire family
• Saves money and time

Breastfeeding Benefits to the Planet:

• It’s always the perfect temperature and it’s produced it the necessary amount–doesn’t require heating and energy waste
• Doesn’t require a storage container
• Reduces the use of medications, medical procedures, and hospitalizations
• Saves money in health care services
• Does not leave residue or garbage
• Doesn’t pollute the environment
• It’s hygienic and sterile

Sometimes mothers defer to soy-based or dairy-based formula because 1) it’s convenient, 2) although rare, sometimes the baby has a medical condition that prevents the suck reflex, or 3) even rarer, the mother has a glandular deficiency in the breast tissue.

I have dear friends with babies who were born with conditions that prevented nursing at the breast, and I am in awe of them for pumping breast milk around-the-clock to support their babies’ needs.  However, medical conditions in babies are rare.  The inability of mothers to produce enough milk is even rarer.

Often, difficulties with latch-on and sucking enough milk are related to jaw or TMJ or upper neck spinal bone misalignments that can occur through the birth process.   Gentle chiropractic treatment can help babies regain a normal suck reflex by removing nervous system interference.  Read more about how chiropractic care can improve a baby’s suck reflex through the International Chiropractic Pediatrics Association.

For more on breastfeeding, check out Part II, Breastfeeding Support for Moms, and Extended Breastfeeding.

Your Turn:

What are your favorite benefits of breastfeeding?

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