One of the most powerful lifesavers for babies doesn’t come from a pharmaceutical company. Instead, it comes from a mother’s breasts. According to two research papers published in the Lancet, increased breastfeeding worldwide could save over 800,000 children’s lives each year. And it could prevent 20,000 mothers from dying of breast and ovarian cancers, too. http://www.statnews.com/2016/01/28/breastfeeding-saves-lives/
I think it's acknowledged that mothers in the UK need to breastfeed more. In some areas the rate is only 20%, if this went up to just 45% it would save the NHS a lot of money, in particular when treating childhood cancers and breast/ovarian cancers in women. part of the problem is the way it is portrayed in the media, or rather not portrayed. babies in sit coms etc are bottle fed and I think it's seen as a very much middle class issue.
Well, I do heard of that before that breastfeeding is good both for the mother and her baby. It could very beneficial because it can prevent breast cancer and hypertension.
I saw a sit com once where a young mother had breast milk in the fridge and a visitor inadvertently drank it. He was horrified at the idea of drinking human milk. (I suppose he somehow associated it with cannibalism.) It just goes to show the odd attitudes that people can have.
From highschool: breast milk is better for babies than cows milk because it comes pre-warmed it's handier to take on picnics and it comes in such cute containers and ......... the list goes on (wish I could remember the rest)
I am not sure they love the container if it is empty . Is the container attractive been filled with artificial fluid ?
Breast milk sugars promote healthy infant growth through gut microbiome: In a study published February 18 in Cell, a team led by Jeffrey Gordon at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now finds key components in breast milk that promote healthy infant growth and how interactions with the gut bacteria drive this process.They found that sugars containing sialic acid, which has been implicated in brain development, were far more abundant in the breast milk of mothers with healthy compared with stunted babies.This suggested that these breast milk sugars might promote healthy infant growth. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/cp-bms021616.php
A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston finds that breastfeeding, along with vaccinations help reduce ear infection rates in babies. The study found that rates of ear infection have dropped significantly since similar studies were conducted in the late 1980s and 1990s with higher rates of breastfeeding, use of vaccinations and lower rates of smoking as the major contributors. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/uotm-bvh032516.php Study: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/6/1144
Although none of this is news, it's all been well-documented. breastfeeding reduces allergies, infections etc. It's just such an emotive subject and always seems to fall too heavily on either side, making women feel guilty whatever they choose.
