The health benefits of breastfeeding

Breastfeeding has many great health benefits for both baby and mother. Here's why most moms should try to breastfeed for at least six months or longer.

Breastfed babies can reap the following benefits if they're breastfed for at least six months or longer:

a) Immediate benefits:
Fewer infections and increased resistance to infectious diseases, including:

• Bacterial meningitis, which can occur when bacteria migrate into the brain and spinal cord causing infection.
• Bacteraemia - particularly community-acquired bacteraemia in less advantaged children that may be caused by a variety of pathogens, but mainly the Salmonella species.
  
• Diarrhoea, which is extremely prevalent in Africa and which can have life-threatening consequences.
• Otitis media or ear infections.
• Infections of the respiratory tract (colds, pneumonia, bronchitis, croup).
• Urinary tract infections (bladder and kidney infections).

b) Long-term benefits:
Breastfeeding can reduce disease in later life. Children who were breastfed:

• Have less asthma. 
• Have a reduced tendency to develop food allergies, possibly because children are exposed to allergens in mother’s milk so that they produce their own antibodies at an early stage and/or also benefit from the mother’s antibodies.
• Are less likely to develop Hodgkin's disease (a type of cancer) and lymphoma.
• Tend to have lower blood cholesterol levels in adulthood.
• Develop leukaemia less frequently.
• Are less susceptible to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
• Are less prone to overweight and obesity.
• Are less likely to suffer from types 1 and type 2 diabetes.
• Are likely to have better cognitive skills and fewer learning problems.

If you're breastfeeding your baby, you're giving your child a very good, healthy start in life. For example, by being less likely to become overweight and obese in later life also reduces your child's risk of developing all the diseases that are linked to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, joint problems, gout, sleep apnoea, gallbladder problems and infertility.

Benefits for breastfeeding mothers
Infants aren't the only ones who benefit from breastfeeding. Mothers who take the time and effort to breastfeed also gain advantages. These include:

• Immediate reduction in bleeding after childbirth, which is why newborns are put to the mother’s breast just after birth.
• Breastfeeding promotes the fast return of the uterus to its prepregnancy shape and size.
  
• Reduction in the amount of blood lost through menstruation during lactation. Some women stop menstruating during the breastfeeding period, but they should keep in mind that they may still conceive despite the general belief that women can't conceive another baby while breastfeeding.
• Women who breastfeed have less of a risk of developing the so-called "hormonal"cancers (breast and ovarian cancers).
• May improve loss of weight gained during pregnancy.
  
• Spacing of children, which gives every child a chance to develop to its fullest potential and allows mothers to recover their health, strength and nutritional reserves before they have the next child.
• Despite increased demands on body calcium stores during lactation, breastfeeding is associated with a decreased risk of hip fractures and osteoporosis after menopause.

- (Dr I.V. van Heerden, Health24)

References: Lepage P et al (1987). Community-acquired bacteraemia in Arica. The Lancet, Vol 329, Issue 8548:1458-61; Mahan LK et al (2012).Krause’s Food and the Nutrition Care Process,13th Edition. Elsevier, USA; Mayo Clinic Staff (2013). Meningitis. www.mayoclinic.com/health/meningitis/DS00118)