Advantages of Breastfeeding and Breast Milk

The important aspect of breastfeeding is that a mother’s breast milk is intended exclusively for infants. It provides not only all the protein, sugar, fat and vitamins an infant requires, but special and unique benefits that artificial formulas cannot match. These include:

• easily digested
• no preparation is needed
• continuously available and costs nothing
• environmentally safe since it produces no waste
• stimulation of the uterus return to its regular size more quickly
• faster return to pre-pregnancy weight
• reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancer
• stimulation of building of bone strength in mothers
• enhanced infant and mother bonding and development
• promotion of infant eye and jaw muscle development

Additionally, substances in human breast milk provide an infant with protective antibodies so that they are less likely to experience:

• ear infections
• allergies
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• respiratory infections such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis
• meningitis
• SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
• obesity