Archive for the ‘Breastmilk or Formula Milk?’ Category
March 23rd, 2011 | 
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There’s a reason humans are called mammals. We were born to be nourished at our mother’s mammary glands. There is really no better nutrition for a baby than pure breast milk from birth to six months or even a year and beyond.
Benefits
In 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics officially advocated breastfeeding in a public statement. The Academy cited that:
- breast milk is superior to any kind of formula
- protects the baby from infections and other diseases and recommended that babies be breastfed exclusively up to six months or beyond.
- Apart from pure nutrition, breastfeeding provides your baby with an experience of the first relationship in his or her life. Breastfeeding allows a mother to reassure her baby of her unconditional love and presence. This forms the foundation of a child’s development and later independence in life.
Barriers
But why do a lot of women end up not breastfeeding despite all the benefits? In the Philippines, only 38% of mothers end up exclusively breastfeeding their babies in their first six months of life.
- The top reason is really a lack of information. If they think that formula is “just as good” as mother’s milk, then they will not have second thoughts about giving their babies formula.
- Secondly, because breast milk is easily absorbed by the baby’s body, breastfeeding takes up every two to three hours of a mother’s day, leaving no other activity for her.
- If a mother needs to return to work right away, which is the usual case in the Philippines, she gives up breastfeeding. A working mother needs to invest her time in collecting milk for her baby three to four times during her eight-hour work day. If she is extremely busy, she needs to invest in a pump that can extract more milk in less time. Or she can invest time in expressing her milk and collecting it in a container that can be refrigerated or stored in an ice box.
- Apart from collecting the milk, she needs to properly store the milk in a sterile container and in the proper temperature, requiring a refrigerator or an ice box.
Breastfeeding is a wonderful mother-child experience. According to James P. Grant, former Executive Director of UNICEF, it provides the absolute best in terms of nutritional and emotional nourishment, equalizing rich and poor infants. However, breastfeeding also demands time and commitment from mothers. In the end, it is up to a mother to decide what is best for her child.
Sources:
- The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, La Leche League International
- “Measuring breastfeeding” by Alexis Rodrigo, http://keepabreastphils.blogspot.com/2007/08/measuring-breastfeeding.html, August 1, 2007, accessed July 19, 2009
- “Breastfeeding” by Marc Kaufman, M.D. ACOG and Robert Daigneault, M.D., eds., http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/breastfeeding.html?pageNum=8, Feb. 27, 2007 (accessed on July 19, 2009)
Visit www.theperfectlatch.com for a list of certified breastfeeding counselors that you can call. You can also email info@the perfectlatch.com
Image from flickr/jessicafm
Posted in 
Sep 11, ‘09 2:03 AM
By Justine C. Tajonera
(re-posted from mommassage.multiply.cm)
When I took childbirth classes, someone asked me if I already took breastfeeding classes or if I’d already gotten some breastfeeding counseling. I laughed and thought to myself that it might be “over-preparing” and that breastfeeding must be natural. Boy, was I mistaken.
Breastfeeding is natural activity but it needs to be taught
When I finally had Badger to myself in the nursery (my ordeal over rooming in is for another blog entry), we just looked at each other. I was hurting from my C.S. section stitches and I couldn’t properly sit down. No one was there to help me latch and I just had a poster to guide me. That was when I realized that breastfeeding is a natural activity but it needs to be taught. Mothers used to teach it to their daughters and close-knit communities used to make it part of their rituals and customs. But there I was just looking at Badger without a clue.
Breastfeeding didn’t start out easy for me. I had the support of my husband and family but I suffered through sore nipples and getting back aches from not being positioned properly. That was all because I didn’t call up another breastfeeding mom and get her advice.
You Need a Breastfeeding Support System
I got to call some breastfeeding peer counselors from the La Leche League chapter in Manila and finally got to talk to a mom who had been through it all. She even came to my house. I wanted to cry when I saw how much support I was getting. I was surprised to find out that it was easy to join a breastfeeding meeting in Greenhills (Mary the Queen Parish Church). I got to meet other breastfeeding moms and got mom-to-mom guidance on how to properly latch my baby.
Breastfeeding is a culturally shared experience. A support network will greatly enhance your chances of breastfeeding longer and avoiding the common problems encountered with breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding help is just a phone call away. Please check out the following resources to get peer counseling for breastfeeding:
LATCH, Inc. (Lactation, Attachment, Training, Counseling, Help)
http://theperfectlatch.com
Call up: Buding (09178920195) or Jen (09175325643)
La Leche League of the Philippines
http://www.llli.org/Philippines.html
Call up: Chris Rosenthal (09178941099)
by Bev Alarcon
BENEFITS FOR BABIES AND MOMS
- Breastmilk is widely accepted by scientists and health organizations across the world as optimal nourishment for infants
- Breastfeeding provides the physical touch and affection newborns need. Babies thrive on being held. Health professionals agree that premature infants might have difficulty developing if they are not held or given affection
- Breastfeeding releases a chemical, oxytocin, in the mother’s body. Oxytocin reduces stress and ejects human milk that provides the ultimate nutrition.
- Breast milk is easier to digest than powdered formula milk. It also contains natural antibodies that gives immunity against bacteria and viruses responsible for newborns’ gastrointestinal distress. Those antibodies may lower incidences of diarrhea, intestinal diseases , as welln other illnesses in young children.
- Breastfeeding leads to smarter babies. There are studies showing that breast-fed children have an enhanced brain development. A study showed that the average IQ score of breast-fed children is higher than formula-fed children. Another study showed that the longer a child is breast-fed, the greater the development of his or her cognitive ability.
- Mothers who breastfeed for at least six months regain their figure more quickly. Breastfeeding burns 500 extra calories a day. A breastfeeding mom who has a normal diet loses the weight gained during pregnancy than those who choose to bottle feed. Additional studies show that breastfeeding women claim to be calmer and fas lower blood pressure.
GIVE YOUR BABY THE BEST IN NUTRITION AND THE STRONGEST IMMUNITY
WHILE YOU WORK.
Yes, you can still breastfeed even after returning to work!
Jacob, my 5 month old baby has not caught a fever since birth! My pedia said his health is so excellent! Thanks to breastmilk. I give him 100% human milk even after returning to work.
I can also wear my pre-pregnancy clothes now after
breastfeeding for 5 months. .
For support you can email me at breastfeedingworkingmom@gmail.com.
There are many differences between breast milk and cow’s milk / formula. Cow’s milk is not recommended for babies until they are at least 10 to 12 months of age or older (ask your doctor). Cow’s milk is much more difficult for an infants digestive system to break down and is not nutritionally equal to breast milk. This goes for all types of cow’s milk, regardless of whether it’s whole, low fat, skim, powdered or any other form. The differences between breast milk and cows milk are explained below.
Breast Milk
*Antibodies – Helps your baby’s immune system gain strength, fighting off bacteria and viruses. When you or your baby is exposed to a virus or bacteria, your breast milk “fights back” by producing antibodies specific to that virus or bacteria. Formula is exactly the same, time after time, regardless of what your baby is exposed to.
*Water – Your breast milk contains the perfect amount of water to satisfy your baby’s thirst and adjusts to your baby’s needs.
*Fat – Breast milk contains more fat than cow’s milk and is more easily absorbed by your baby. This is one of the reasons that breast fed babies have different stools than bottle (formula) fed babies. Since the baby is not excreting any wasted fats the stool will be a yellow mustard color with a mildly sweet smell.
*Protein – Protein that is used to help your baby’s body grow and develop is in just the right amount and in a form most readily absorbed.
*Carbohydrates – Breast milk contains more carbohydrates than cow’s milk. These carbohydrates provide a very important source of energy.
*Vitamins and minerals – As long as you, the mother, eat a reasonably well balanced diet, your breast milk will contain all of your baby’s vitamin and mineral requirements, until about age 6 months.
*Taste – Breast milk changes in taste, depending on the different foods the mother eats. Breastfed babies are more likely to accept new and different foods once they start on solids (not recommended until age 6 months) than their formula-fed peers, because formula tastes the same every single time, while breastmilk takes on a taste similar to the different foods a mother eats.
Cow’s Milk
*No antibodies – Antibodies that are in breast milk are not in cow’s milk / formula and cannot be artificially produced.
*Water – The amount of water in cow’s milk / formula can’t change to suit your baby’s need the way breast milk can.
*Fat – The fat in cow’s milk / formula is very different than the fat in breast milk and your baby can’t absorb it as easily.
*Protein – The amount of protein in cow’s milk / formula is at least double the amount in breast milk and is also a different and less digestible type.
*Carbohydrates – Cow’s milk / formula has smaller amounts of carbohydrates than breast milk.
*Vitamins and minerals – Cow’s milk / formula has more of some vitamins and minerals and less of others than breast milk; it’s not the right amount for your baby.
*There are over 100 ingredients in breast milk which ARE NOT in formula, even the new “DHA added” formulas. Formula is intended as a replacement for breastmilk when breastmilk is not available, but sadly, it does not even come close to it!
from: http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/breastfeeding-diff-breast-cow-milk.htm