To do our part this World Breastfeeding Week, we have put together 10 facts that show us how amazing the connection between mother and baby is, and how natural it should be for this to happen in our societies.
Every step of the way. From the moment you conceive a child, your body is preparing for what is to come, and this includes preparing for breastfeeding. As most people know, your breasts become larger during pregnancy, and this is due to a change from normal breast tissue to milk producing cells. From then on, your body starts producing the first milk needed when your baby is born, known as colostrum, and the hormones and brain signals needed to kickstart the feeding process are released when your baby is born, and with skin to skin contact. There is no physical preparation needed, other than staying as healthy as possible and avoiding too much alcohol or foods and medications that may not be suitable.
All breast milk contains nutrients and antibodies needed to help keep your baby healthy, and boost the immune system. When first born, and during the first few days of their life, your baby will receive ‘colostrum’ when breastfeeding. This contains a huge amount of antibodies, as well as helping the baby adjust to using a digestive system. Think of colostrum as a first, natural vaccine for the real world, away from the womb.
Colostrum is very clever in that it is made specifically for the health of a newborn baby. However, it doesn’t stop there. From then on, every individual feed will be personally tailored to your baby, and the chemical make-up of the milk will change as the baby grows and requires different nutrients or calorific value. Milk can even contain more or less water, depending on the temperature and how dehydrated the baby could potentially become.
It doesn’t stop at tailored milk. Every single feed has a process in which the milk produced changes throughout. Milk at the beginning of a feed tends to be thinner and more watery, in order to quench the initial thirst. Then, as they get used to the feed and are no longer as thirsty, the milk becomes thicker with a higher fat content, to deliver the vital calories and nutrients.
Breastfeeding has many benefits for your baby, but it is also a key part of the mother’s recovery and wellbeing following pregnancy. Post-partum recovery, including returning to pre-pregnancy weight, as well as the uterus and surrounding muscles returning to normal, can all be helped by the process of breastfeeding. This is because hormones are released telling the body that the pregnancy and birth has been successful, and the ‘baby weight’ and uterus are no longer needed right now. What’s more, energy required to produce milk and feed a baby takes on average around 1000 calories. Mothers are recommended to take on 500 extra calories than normal when breasfeeding, and this still leaves a deficit to allow weight to return to pre-pregnancy levels.
6. There is a chemical and hormonal change in the mother when breastfeeding
The hormones oxytocin and prolactin are both released during a feed, and these help keep the body producing the milk it needs for your baby. However, these hormones also promote a content and happy emotional state in the mother, which in turn calms both mother and baby, and helps with the bonding process.The human body is an amazing and highly evolved part of our world, and breastfeeding is one of the most impressive feats of the female body, along with pregnancy and birth. This completely natural process happens with very little, if any, human intervention other than parents and baby, and that is a truly fascinating thing. Spread the word about the wonders of breastfeeding this World Breastfeeding week and month, by telling someone about some of the facts in this post. You can also help spread awareness of ending the stigma on breastfeeding and helping society to embrace this natural process as part of every day life.
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