Breastfeeding Provides Broad Benefits for Both Baby and Mom
August 21, 2024
August is National Breastfeeding Month, the perfect time to highlight the benefits of breastfeeding and provide support to lactating parents.
When parents are deciding whether breastfeeding is right for them, it can be helpful to know the benefits that come with it. According to the CDC, advantages to breastfeeding can include:
Nutrition
Breast milk provides most babies with all the nutrients they need in the first six months of their life. It contains the right levels of fat, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water for their developmental stage. Breast milk also naturally changes as the baby grows to continue meeting those needs.
Baby’s health
Through breast milk, moms share their antibodies with their babies. Additionally, colostrum, the special milk produced in the first two to three days after delivery, provides high amounts of white cells and immune protection that prepares them for organisms in the environment and helps their digestive system grow.
Children that were breastfed have a lower risk of:
- Ear infections
- Asthma
- Lower respiratory infections
- Diarrhea and vomiting
- Childhood obesity
- Type 2 diabetes
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Mom’s health
Breastfeeding is also beneficial to moms. It can help them recover faster from childbirth and reduces their risk for high blood pressure, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes.
It's not always easy
While breastfeeding is broadly beneficial, there can be complications. As a Texas 10 Step Program designated facility, Doctors Hospital of Laredo provides breastfeeding support to new parents. The program includes policy development, education of staff and providing discharge resources for breastfeeding mothers. The program is based on the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund.