Why is Breastfeeding so Important?

If you have ever had a child, you may have noticed that one of the biggest decisions you have to make is how and what you are going to feed the baby. Many doctors will encourage their patients to nurse their children for as long as they can. You may be curious as to why that is. Isn't formula the same thing as breast milk? Cant they add even more nutrients to formula that aren't found in breast milk?

Scientists have been attempting to discover the secret to a mother's milk for many years. According to the late Dr. Frank Oski, a world-renounced pediatrician, there are over four hundred different ingredients and nutrients found in a mother's milk. These ingredients and nutrients can help a young child develop their immune system, stimulate better brain growth, help a baby learn to digest his or her food properly, and continue to fight infection. Many of those ingredients and nutrients cannot be reproduced in a laboratory.

Breastfeeding does not just help your child for the few months that you do it, but it also has many long term affects. Baby's brain is always growing and maturing. With the help of breast milk, your baby will have a higher chance of increased intelligence (McGill University, Breastfeeding Associated With Increased Intelligence Study). Mother's milk contains nutrients that help the brain grow and develop in ways that formula could never accomplish. Babies who were breastfed showed reduced risks of certain health problems including:

- Lower risk of asthma

- Less of a chance to have allergies

- Reduced risk of obesity

- Increased protection from certain forms of childhood cancer

Your child is not the only one who benefits from breastfeeding. Did you know that by nursing you are releasing hormones into your body? These hormones can help reduce the amount of bleeding by contracting your uterus, and helping put it back to its normal size. Not to mention, by tightening your uterus, you will begin to look more like yourself in no time. Also, by breastfeeding you are greatly reducing your risk for premenopausal breast cancer. This type of breast cancer usually sets in before the age of fifty. These benefits will last as long as you continue to breastfeed your child (Imaginis - The Women's Health Resource).

Lets face it, we all know that it might be easier to just pick up a bottle of formula and give that to baby. However, you should ask yourself, is it worth it? Would you deny your child nutrients that he or she needs and deserves? Nutrients that could help them become more intelligent, happier, healthier children? Breast milk is just plain better for your baby then formula or other creations of science. When asked the question, "Breast or bottle fed?", answer breast fed, knowing that you are giving your child the healthiest food they are ever likely to consume in their lives.