Brest is Best

First Published in the TimeScape Journal Vol 01 No 10 Monday Feb. 20 2012
By Ngala Elvis Mbiydzenyuy
Founder/CEO Maternal and Child Aid Cameroon
E-mail: elngala@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 237 99 13 84 44

For years now, we have heard the saying "breast is best" when it comes to feeding infants. Most agree but some prefer commercially prepared formula as their child's primary source of nutrition to breast milk. A research conducted on two babies differentiated by the two forms of feeding shows that both babies look healthy, grow rapidly but has different brain and retinal development; and vulnerability to foreign microorganisms and allergies.
Disciples of commercially prepared baby formula quickly site convenience as a major and compelling force to adopting formula food. However there is a cost to this convenience, unlike breastfeeding mothers, who always have a ready meal for their babies, formula must be prepared, toted and stored safely until needed. At that time, it must be warmed since very few infants will gladly accept cold formula.
Another claim by proponents of formula feeding is that formula digests morel slowly than breast milk, so formula fed babies remain satisfied longer and require less feedings than their breastfed peers. For busy parents and caregivers, the extra time between feedings can be helped, especially if they have several children to look after. More so they say others who choose to breastfeed must be careful about taking medications, which can sometimes cause the mother to postpone treatment for an illness. This is not an issue for formula feeding mothers.
Infant formula is made from cow's milk and contains proteins that are much harder for infants to digest than breast milk. They are also full of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and processed ingredients that further decrease a baby's ability to digest and often cause colic and reflux. Sadly, most infant formulas use corn syrup as their first ingredient in a failed attempt to match the sugars in breast milk.
On the other hand breast milk contains long chain omega-3 fatty acids important for brain and retinal development, according them the potential of higher intelligent quotients. Breast milk is the baby's first vaccination, protects against harmful foreign microorganisms, allergens, kills these organisms or modifies their growth, and also protects the baby against ear infections. pneumonia, intestinal infections, arthritis, asthma, eczema and allergies. It has been proven that breastfeeding prevents against type-I diabetes. Breast milk with over 200 components contains just the right amount of nutrients in the right proportion. In addition to these it provides better dental health, increased visual acuity and decreases duration and intensity of illness in infants
"Breastfeeding could save 41 percent of newborns who would otherwise die in their first month of life" writes Andreas Moritz in Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation. Yet UNICEF estimates that 1.4 million children under the age of two die each year due to the improper promotion of infant formula over breast milk, particularly in low-income countries.
An undeniable attachment, bonding and a skin-to-skin security is endowed on the breast feeder and the breastfed as well as the joie de vivre of fulfilling basic needs. Breastfeeding is also a natural weight loss exercise for breastfeeding mothers. It decreases risk of illnesses like breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, hemorrhage, and ovarian cancer. It is also a very natural birth control method. Breastfeeding is best, it is pride and empowerment, think about it.
Formula milk for 3 days old babies is no different than formula milk for 3 months old infants but breast milk is ingeniously different every single day; adapted to the changing needs of the baby. Human milk is designed t support the development of large brains, capable of processing and storing lots of information, while cow milk is designed to support functions like constant grazing.
The act of breastfeeding dates back to the solitude romance in the garden of Eden with Cain suckling the breast of Eve. This natural unsurpassed filial clasp strolled unperturbed and unchallenged down history's lane until the late 19th century when birth control and feeding substitutes were introduced. as is ever the case with interceptions to natural algorithms, the West registered very low levels of breastfeeding in the 1970s. These rates peaked in 1980 and ever since have progressively maintained low levels globally. The developing nations always at the mercy of the ebb and flow of social and scientific parallels have also been caught in this web that has ravaged nature's gift of the first food to infants.
There is no freedom of choice for humans if it has been taken away from them at the beginning. Breastfeeding is not a choice but an obligation to the choice. Give your child the freedom of choice.