24 December 2008
23 December 2008
Eleven Benefits of Brestfeeding to society
1-The cost of artificial baby milk has increased 150% since the 1980's.
2-If no California infants were breastfed, the cost of artificial baby milk alone would exceed $1000 million per year.
3-Breastfeeding reduces healthcare costs for infants with less gastrointestinal, respiratory and other infant illnesses and less hospital admissions.
4-Breastfeeding may reduce healthcare costs long-term via a healthier child, adolescent and adult population.
5-Employers benefit from breastfeeding via healthier infants and children and less parent absenteeism from work.
6-Unlike artificial baby milk, breastfeeding requires no fossil fuels for its manufacture or preparation.
7-Breastfeeding reduces pollutants created as byproducts during the manufacture of plastics and artificial baby milk.
8-Breastfeeding reduces the burden on our landfills.
9-Breastfeeding represents the most efficient conversion of plant material into an ideal high-protein, high-energy food for infants.
10-Breastfeeding performs a critical global ecological function by averting nearly as many births as all other modern contraceptive methods combined.
11-Is Environment-friendly. Breastfeeding does not waste scarce resources or create pollution. Breastmilk is a naturally-renewable resource that requires no packaging, shipping, or disposal.Breastfeeding is better for our environment because there is less waste compared to that produced by formula cans and bottle supplies.
Sixteen Benefits of Brestfeeding to Mothers
Why is Breastfeeding so Important to Mothers?
1-Breastfeeding helps the uterus to shrink to its pre-pregnancy state and reduces the amount of blood lost after delivery.
2-Breastfeeding mothers return to their prepregnant weight more rapidly than bottle-feeding mothers.
3-Breastfeeding mothers usually resume their menstrual cycles 20 to 30 weeks later than bottle-feeding women.
4-Breastfeeding can be an important factor in child spacing among women who do not use contraceptives.
5-Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
6-Women who breastfeed their infants are less likely to develop multiple sclerosis.
7-Breastfeeding reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
8-During lactation, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels decline while the beneficial HDL level remains high. Carbohydrate metabolism is also improved.
Breastfeeding promotes maternal confidence.
9-The amount of iron a mother's body uses in milk production is much less than the amount she would lose from menstrual bleeding. The net effect is a decreased risk of iron-deficiency anemia in the breastfeeding mother as compared with her formula-feeding counterpart. The longer the mother nurses and keeps her periods at bay, the stronger this effect (Institute of Medicine
10-A number of studies have shown other potential health advantages that mothers can enjoy through breastfeeding. These include optimal metabolic profiles, reduced risk of various cancers, and psychological benefits.
11-Production of milk is an active metabolic process, requiring the use of 200 to 500 calories per day, on average. To use up this many calories, a bottlefeeding mother would have to swim at least 30 laps in a pool or bicycle uphill for an hour daily. Clearly, breastfeeding mothers have an edge on losing weight gained during pregnancy. Studies have confirmed that nonbreastfeeding mothers lose less weight and don't keep it off as well as breastfeeding mothers (Brewer 1989).
The above finding is particularly important for mothers who have had diabetes during their pregnancies. After birth, mothers with a history of gestational diabetes who breastfeed have lower blood sugars than nonbreastfeeding mothers (Kjos 1993). For these women who are already at increased risk of developing diabetes, the optimal weight loss from breastfeeding may translate into a decreased risk of diabetes in later life.
12-current studies show that after weaning their children, breastfeeding mothers' bone density returns to prepregnancy or even higher levels (Sowers 1995). In the longterm, lactation may actually result in stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis. In fact, recent studies have confirmed that women who did not breastfeed have a higher risk of hip fractures after menopause (Cummings 1993).
13-There is much more to breastfeeding than the provision of optimal nutrition and protection from disease through mother's milk. Breastfeeding provides a unique interaction between mother and child, an automatic, skin-to-skin closeness and nurturing that bottle-feeding mothers have to work to replicate. The child's suckling at the breast produces a special hormonal milieu for the mother. Prolactin, the milk-making hormone, appears to produce a special calmness in mothers. Breastfeeding mothers have been shown to have a less intense response to adrenaline (Altemus 1995).
14-Bonds Mother and Child. Breastfeeding provides physiological and psychological benefits for both mother and child. It creates emotional bonds, and has been known to reduce rates of infant abandonment.
15-Helps Birth Spacing. In developing countries, exclusive breastfeeding reduces total potential fertility as much as all other modern contraceptive methods combined.
16-Saves Money. Breastfeeding is among the most cost-effective of child survival interventions. Households save money; and institutions economize by reducing the need for bottles and formulas. By shortening mothers' hospital stay, nations save foreign exchange.
Ten Benefits of Brestfeeding to Babies.
Once thought to be "no longer worth the bother"1, breastfeeding has been rediscovered by modern science as a means to save lives, reduce illness, and protect the environment.
Breastfeeding promotion and support has been recognized as a healthcare priority by the World Health Organization .
Why is Breastfeeding so Important for Infants?
1-Human milk is easy to digest and contains all the nutrients that babies need in the early months of life.
2-Human milk contains special enzymes to optimally digest and absorb the nutrients in the milk before infants are capable of producing these enzymes themselves.
3-Breastmilk contains multiple growth and maturation factors.
4-Factors in breastmilk protect infants from a wide variety of illnesses.
Breastmilk contains antibodies specific to illnesses encountered by each mother and baby.
5-Research suggests that fatty acids, unique to human milk, play a role in optimal infant brain and visual development.
In several large studies, children who had been breastfed had a small advantage over those who had been artificially fed when given a variety of cognitive and neurologic tests, including measures of IQ.
6-Lack of breastfeeding is a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Human milk seems to protect the premature infants from life-threatening gastrointestinaldisease and other illnesses.
7-Infants who are exclusively breastfed for at least four months are half as likely as artificially fed infants to have ear infections in the first year of life.
Breastfeeding reduces the incidence and lessens the severity of bacterial infections such as meningitis, lower respiratory infections, bacteremia and urinary tract infections in infants.
8-Breastfeeding is protective against infant botulism. 59
Breastfeeding reduces the risk of "baby-bottle tooth decay" in infants.
Breastfed infants are less likely to have diarrhea.
Evidence suggests that exclusive breastfeeding for at least two months protects susceptible children from Type I insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).
9-Breastfeeding may reduce the risk of subsequent inflammatory bowel disease and childhood lymphoma.
10-Breastfeeding confers some protection against allergy.
New research suggests that older children and adults who were breastfed as infants, arelikely to have less adult illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, hypertension and auto-immune diseases.
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- http://realityviews.blogspot.com/2008/12/eleven-benefits-of-brestfeeding-to.html
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