To Breast Feed or Not - That's the Question

by docboylive | December 13, 2008 at 05:02 am

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Breast-feeding is the most wholesome food that a newborn baby can have and tolerate. Yet women in the developed world find it a big chore to provide. If you go by statistics in the UK, most women start of breastfeeding and by two weeks, it is down to less than 20%. Women start of due to pressure from the midwives or peer pressure. The targets that hospitals and government set pressure the midwives themselves.

There are many reasons for women to give up this form of feeding.  
1. Most women may find it hard to work and feed.  
2. Employers may not be encouraging enough.  
3. It may not fit the image of some powerful women.  
4. May not fit their usual style.  
5. Some maybe depressed post delivery.  
6. Some may not like the pressure to feed in the first instance.  
7. May find it hard to comprehend the site of others watching them or their saggy breasts.  
8. Some may also find it easier for their child to be fed by someone else while they themselves rest.
On the contrary, the women from the so-called third world countries find it so much more easier to breast feed. In fact they begin to start pouring milk fairly soon after birth. I have come across stories wherein pregnant women who work in granite quarries and fields, take a break, deliver and also give the first breast-feed and are back to work, all in the same day. That may sound like an exaggeration, but not far from the truth. One may ask, how come these women do it all so well.  One possible explanation maybe that its natures way of dealing with the poverty, malnutrition, disease and lack of opportunity in these communities.
So what are the possible advantages of breast-feeding? There are lots of them but to highlight a few.  
1. Its safe, easy and at most times, available on demand.  
2. Helps bonding between mother and baby.  
3. Helps the baby understand and trust the person feeding him or her.  
4. Helps prevent diarrhea, vomiting and gastroenteritis.  
5. Helps reduce allergies and eczema.  
6. Helps reduce the probability of acquiring diabetes.  
7. Helps the mother shed her calories and regain her body figure.
8. Helps fight infection.  
9. Helps reduce the chances of acquiring breast cancer.  
10. Keeps the baby warm.  
11. Breast fed babies are supposedly more intelligent than formula fed babies.  
12. May probably reduce the chances of acquiring diseases like high blood pressure, coronary heart disease etc. in later life.  
13. If not anything else, it's cheap.
Well those are a few and fairly important reasons as to why it pays to breast-feed. Now there are situations when formula feeding maybe advocated. They are generally very few.
Some of them are.  
1. If there is lactose intolerance or cow's milk allergy, then there are specialized formula feeds which maybe recommended.  
2. If for any reason, the mother is not able to breast feed, which maybe because she is on certain medications (cancer drugs, narcotics etc.).
3. If the mother died after delivery.  
4. To help premature or malnourished babies gain weight. (Please do note that even in premature babies, it is breast milk, which is most easily, absorbed.)  
5. If the baby has been separated from the mother for whatever reason.  
6. If the mother suffers from certain pre-existing medical conditions.
Those are some of the reasons as to why one would consider formula feeding. But these are rare and are no reason for people to jump to it, even when there is plentiful supply of breast milk. There are formula milk making companies ready to attract customers with fanciful information and advertisements. It's all to do with the attitude of people as someone once said. The right attitude will lead you to the right direction.
Try thinking the Natural way. Keep your baby's health on top of your priorities and give him or her the nourishment that Nature intended it to have. You will do your baby a world of good.