Once upon a time African women breastfed their babies usually until the child starts to crawl/walk, or by the infant’s first birthday. Babies have been known to outright stop feeding on breast milk before any of the stated milestones are reached there is no study to explain this behavior my guess is the infant’s internal system dictates this.
Then suddenly it became a fad to not suckle your child you can only imagine the horror of our mothers who intuitively knew breast milk was a determining factor in whether a child will be healthy in later life or not—as it provides nutrition and immunity to facilitate growth and development.
INTUITIVELY mother knew, she was right but she sadly had no hard facts to back up her intuitive claims of breast milk being the absolute best for a newborn babe and hence was ridiculed (her knowledge is uncivilized and primitive she was told) to oblivion, helpless she starred on in horror— finally science catches up and mother is vindicated.
Science now admits there is wisdom in weaning infants on breast milk this of course makes sense to primitive me. It is no longer news that breast feeding is beneficial to both mother and child .Some of these benefits are enumerated below.
Several studies have shown that breastfeeding benefits both mother and child
- Full nutrient nutrient filled nutrition for the newborn: full, rich, and unadulterated nutrient for new born.
- Breast milk has antibodies, digestive enzymes that help with the colonization of your baby’s gut microbes
- No fuss it is easy no bottle washing no warming or cooling simply human production to human mouth haha!
- Bond it easily fosters bonding between mother and babe because breastfeeding stimulates the release of oxytocin (love hormone) encouraging bonding and allowing strong bond between mother and child.
- As stated above the suckling action on a woman’s breast stimulates oxytocin a hormone that is useful and effective in dispelling postpartum depression, given that pregnancy does task the physical body and physiology of a pregnant woman breastfeeding soon helps restore a balance of body and mind. Those who suggest breastfeeding increases the risk of postpartum depression show how little they understand the interdependence and holistic nature of the human body.
- Another benefit for mom aside the ease of food preparation though I didn’t find any scientific study must be another old wives tale is that the suckling action of your new born joy supports the contraction of the uterus allowing the mother’s stomach flatten and retain near her original shape before pregnancy.
Good nutrition is necessary for optimal health as it is a precursor for a healthy body and balanced mind. If your nutrition during gestation was below par this can have multiple damaging effects on both body and mind eg low milk production or none at all is one of such effects of poor nutrition during pregnancy. Also it is well established that medicative drugs eg epidural, pitocin may also impair milk production and flow.
A nursing mother’s nutrient intake must be rich to support successful lactation this implies she should before, during and after pregnancy eat real (non-manufactured) foods rich in micro and macro nutrients necessary to sustain optimal health.hence it is imperative to supplement with food grade herbal nutrients
Breastfeeding in public is taboo.
To round up this article I must mention there are places in the world where breastfeeding publicly is thought to be offensive and rude, shocking right? Well that’s culture for you a classic example of one man’s meat being another’s poison.
Image is courtesy anonnews check out full article
Image is courtesy anonnews check out full article
A woman breastfeeding her infant child in public is frowned upon as it is considered rude,Yep it is a big deal, there are numerous accounts of women being asked to leave public places and sometimes have had security men unleashed on them for disturbing ‘the peace’ forgive me but I find that to be completely laughable how does breastfeeding an infant become a matter to be debated and queried and be tagged offensive, how much better our world will be if we will fixate less on sex and actually focus our energy on things that actually matter in the grand scheme of things.
Be well
Egbe.
egbe adeta
Egbe is an unrepentant herb user, a health enthusiast and an avid reader who loves to share her commonsense approach to nutrition.
