International health agencies and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend
"breastfeeding as the preferred method of human feeding for the entire first year of
life and thereafter as long as is beneficial to the mother and child. These
recommendations are based on the knowledge that term infants nursed by nutritionally
adequate mothers are provided with sufficient energy and the proper profile of
nutrients to support normal growth and development without any additional foods
through the first 4 to 6 months of life. After 6 months, complimentary foods are
needed to furnish nutrients likely to become limited."
No matter what formula manufacturers claim in their advertisements, formula will never
match human breast milk. Infants will be well nourished and healthy when fed formula,
but so much is missing that can only be found in breast milk. Human milk is a complex
biological fluid composed of thousands of components. The different components can be
categorized into proteins, carbohydrates, fats, water-soluble vitamins, minerals, and
living cells. The composition of these components change over the course of a feeding
and as an infant matures. It is important to remember that animal milk is
species-specific. Therefore, human milk contains the nutrients and energy for the
growth and development of an infant.
In addition to the major categories of components, human milk also contains hormones,
enzymes, growth factors, and many types of protective agents. Recent research confirms
that breast milk can protect infants from many gastrointestinal, respiratory, and ear
infections. Other protective factors in human milk may reduce the incidence of
inflammatory diseases, viral infections, and autoimmune disorders later in life. More
research is needed to scientifically prove these theories.
Breastfeeding also has other benefits besides the obvious nutritional and immunologic
ones. These include economic and health benefits for the mother. There is a
tremendous cost savings in breastfeeding over purchasing infant formulas for the first
year of a child's life. It has been demonstrated that breastfeeding reduces healthcare
costs and employee absenteeism due to child illness. The mother personally benefits
in a more rapid return to prepregnancy weight, and less postpartum bleeding and return
of the uterus to its prepregnancy size. Additionally, mothers who breastfeed have
lower risks of ovarian cancer and premenopausal breast cancer. Although breastfeeding
is not a form of birth control, there is a delayed resumption of ovulation in many
women, leading to increased child spacing.
