3. Provides Perfect Nutrition
Breast milk is a perfect food that
cannot be duplicated. Mother's milk
is tailor- made for your baby. In fact,
it actually matches 50% of your
baby's genetic material.
•
4. Provides Perfect Nutrition
Breast milk provides all of the calories your
baby needs in the first 6 months. It has the
perfect combination of proteins, fats,
carbohydrate, and fluids that new-born
babies require.
Mother's milk contributes significantly to
the growth and maturation of the baby's
digestive system, which is not complete
until around 6 months of age.
5. Provides Perfect Nutrition
The sugar (carbohydrate) and protein in
breast milk are also designed to be used
easily and more completely by the human
baby.
Breast milk prevents a shortage of
vitamin A between 12 and 36 months.
Breast milk composition is very stable, even
when the mother has a poor diet or is ill.
6. Breast milk decreases the risk for
vitamin E and Iron deficiency anemia.
Breast milk provides adequate water
for hydration.
All types of immunoglobulins are found in
breast milk. The highest concentration is
found in colostrum, the pre-milk that is
only available from the breast the first
three to five days of the baby's life.
Provides Perfect Nutrition
7. Breast milk is a dynamic fluid that
changes in composition throughout the
day and throughout the course of
lactation. It provides for the baby the
specific nutrients that are needed at each
age and in each situation. The varying
composition of breast milk keeps pace
with the infant's individual growth and
changing nutritional needs.
•Provides Perfect Nutrition
8. • Secretory IGA, a type of
immunoglobulin that protects the
ears, nose, throat, and the GI tract,
is found in high amounts in breast
milk throughout the first year.
Secretory IGA attaches to the lining
of the nose, mouth, and throat and
fights the attachment of specific
infecting agents.
Provides Perfect Nutrition
9. Bonds mother and child
• Breastfeeding is a gentle way for
newborns to transition to the world
outside the womb.
• 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.
10. Protects Against Infection
Only breast milk is alive with many different
kinds of disease-fighting factors that help
prevent mild to severe infections. Babies
who are fully or almost-fully breastfed
babies have significantly fewer
gastrointestinal, respiratory, ear, and
urinary infections. They also have less
digestive troubles, such as colic.
11. Protects Against Infection
On average, breastfed babies have fewer
infections in their early life. In particular,
they have less diarrhoea and vomiting,
compared to babies who are not breast
fed.
12. Always Available
• Breast milk is always available, never
spoils and is totally free.
• Breast milk availability works on a supply
and demand basis. Maintaining a good
milk supply depends on the regular
stimulation provided by baby or by
pumping.
• No mistakes in mixing.
13. Easily Digested
• A nutritious, yet easily digested first food is
important for a baby's immature digestive
tract. Babies uses less energy, yet break
breast milk down more completely into its
basic ingredients, so the nutrients, anti-
infective factors, and all the other
ingredients in the milk are more available to
fuel the baby's body functions and to
promote the baby's growth and
development.
14. • Mother's milk is easier to digest and
almost completely assimilated by the
baby. This is why breastfed babies feed
more frequently than formula-fed babies.
Breastfed babies also make liquid stools
that contain almost no solid matter (and
do not smell offensive).
Easily Digested
15. Enhances Development and
Intelligence
• Research has found that breastfed babies
perform better on different kinds of
intelligence tests as they grow older.
• Children who had consumed mother's milk in
early weeks of life had a significantly higher
IQ at
7.5 to 8 yr. than those who received no
maternal milk, even after adjustment for
differences
between groups and mothers' educational
and social class.
16. Enhances Development and
Intelligence
• Mother's milk contains the fatty acids
essential to the development of the baby's
nervous system and vision. This may be
one of the reasons why breastfed babies'
IQ are 8 to 10 points higher than that of
formula-fed babies.
17. Promotes the Recovery of the
Sick
Child
• Breastfeeding provides a nutritious, easily
digestible food when a sick child loses
appetite for other foods. When a child is ill
or has diarrhea, breastfeeding helps
prevent dehydration. Frequent
breastfeeding also diminishes the risk of
malnutrition and fosters catch-up growth
following illness.
18. Enhances Vaccine Response
• Breastfeeding promotes earlier
development of the infant immune system
and increases the effectiveness of
immunizations, increasing the protection
against polio, tetanus, and diptheria
vaccines.
19. Enhances Vaccine
Response
• Many studies show that breastfeeding
strengthens the immune system. During
nursing, the mother passes antibodies to
the child, which help the child resist
diseases and help improve the normal
immune response to certain vaccines.
20. Summary of
Benefits
BREASTFEEDING
• Best for baby
Reduces incidence of allergies
Economical - no waste
Antibodies - greater immunity to
infections Stool inoffensive - never
constipated Temperature always
correct and constant Fresh milk - never
goes sour in the breast Emotionally
bonding
Easy once established
Digested easily within two to three
hours
Immediately available
Nutritionally balanced
Gastroenteritis greatly
reduced
