With the breastfeeding week approaching fast in August, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), in association with WHO and UNICEF, aims to highlight the importance of breastfeeding in across 120 countries. World Breastfeeding Week is a global campaign to raise awareness in regards to the breastfeeding benefits to women and children alike.
Held annually in August between 1st August to 7th August, the entire week is all about busting the myths related to Breastfeeding. Initially celebrated in 1992, World Breastfeeding Week is actually the best way to keep mothers aware of the importance of Breastfeeding.
In this entire one week, the idea of Breastfeeding is supported and promoted across the world while narrating its benefits.
Why Is Breastfeeding Awareness Important and What Does This Week is All About?
Mothers should know that the first 2 years of a toddler’s life are significantly important. Breastfeeding babies in their initial age reduces the risk of chronic disorders and fosters the overall development of a child physically, mentally, and emotionally. Moreover, the initial phase after which the child is born is required to provide optimal nutrition to lower morbidity and mortality.
Furthermore, these days, working mothers ignore the importance of Breastfeeding due to the monotonous lifestyle and fast pace of life. Most of the new-aged mothers rely on supplements for kids, which is not actually as good as breastfeeding them.
This entire World Breastfeeding Week will be all about supporting mothers through peer groups to promote and carry on the practice of Breastfeeding. Women would be educated and trained by health care practitioners to support the mothers who are mothers in the best effective way.
So if you skip breastfeeding your kid in their infant’s age, you are seriously missing something really important. The Breastfeeding week aims to raise awareness concerned with the outcome of Breastfeeding for both mother and kid.
What Are the Reasons And Benefits of Breastfeeding?
The benefits of Breastfeeding are seamlessly endless. When kids are born, breastfeeding is the only actual way to keep your toddler healthy. This is the stage when toddlers neither need water nor food but proper breastfeeding. In addition, there are many Science-backed benefits of breastfeeding, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization.
According to them, breastfeeding a newborn kid 60 minutes after birth comes with great health results for both mom and little ones.
Below mentioned are scientifically-backed benefits of breastfeeding every mother should know:
1. Breast Milk Benefits Your Baby’s Immune System
Breastfeeding is the best nourishment you could give to your kids. Wondering how? Well, Breastfeeding stimulates strength in a toddler’s immune system. Breastfeeding milk is packed and loaded with significant and adequate antibodies. These antibodies protect the infant from unwanted viruses and bacterias, which is crucial in those tender months.
Moreover, when you breastfeed your kid, chances of unwanted diseases hitting them like asthma and allergies gets lowered. On the other hand, there are some instances and researches where skipping breastfeeding a kid resulted in ear problems and diabetes problems in kids. Moreover, women are also at the least risk of heart-related problems.
2. Your Baby Gets Adequate Nutrition
Infants or toddlers highly depend on breastfeeding when it comes to their feeding. The milk from the mother’s breast is the fuel to the infant’s immune system. And that is the reason you will find certified healthcare professionals suggest exclusive breastfeeding tips for 6-8 months.
In short, the milk from the mom’s breast for the first 6 months is the right kind of balanced diet that contains all the nutrients in the proper amount. You would be amazed to know that the milk composition keeps on changing with the growing age of the infant, particularly in the first few months after birth.
A thick yellowish fluid is produced called colostrum in the first few days after the kid is born. This kind of milk is very good for the infant because it is extremely rich in proteins and contains low sugar amalgamated with beneficial compounds. No formula could replace the importance of that thick and yellowish fluid.
The newborn’s kid’s immune system is supposed to be weak after they are born. That is why Colostrum milk acts as a catalyst to strengthen the kid’s immune system and digestive system. Just when your little one gets used to Breastfeeding, the breast often produces the extra milk after a few days because of the growth of the baby’s stomach.
3. Breastfeeding Promotes Baby’s Healthy Weight
As an adult, you can maintain your weight gain or loss. But how about the newborn infant? The answer is Breastfeeding. It helps promote adequate weight gain and protect the infants from getting hit by the obesity problem in the future. If you believe in reliable medical study, those moms who breastfeed their toddler for more than 6 months have less chance of the baby getting hit by weight problems.
Moreover, the appetite and fat storage are regulated when you breastfeed your baby in its initial days. Last but not least, breastfeeding a kid is like a healthy balanced diet to the adults. Both have one thing in common: they satisfy hunger – one in an adult while one in the infant.
4. Breastfeeding Injects the Smartness In Your Kids
If you want to make your children smarter than anyone else in the new-aged society, make Breastfeeding the first step. According to the trusted sources, women who Breastfeed their kids in their initial stages allow higher intelligence scores to be injected into their kids’ brains.
Such kids are less likely to deal with behavioral problems with the growing age. Forget about those vaccines after the newborn comes and first pay special attention to inject the idea of long-term brain development by Breastfeeding.
5. Your Uterine Muscle Gets Its Shape
You would be amazed to know that breastfeeding protects the uterus contract. When a woman is pregnant, her uterus grows immensely along with size expansion. Your entire uterus expands from pear size and gets covered through your entire abdomen. Once you make the delivery, your uterus size gets back to its normal.
The whole process is driven by Oxytocin which increases during pregnancy. You must breastfeed your baby to have less blood loss after delivery and push quick involution of the uterus.
6. Lowered Risk of the Depression
Depression could be caused due to many reasons in any gender, but especially in women, it is caused due to mood swings before and after pregnancy. The reasons are many, but menstruation cycle disbalance is the prime one. When you indulge in breastfeeding, your happy hormones are released, and thus, you invite depression.
Moreover, you must know that excessive breastfeeding could result in a legit level of depression. So consult with your family doctor if you have any further doubts.
7. Breastfeeding Strengthen Mother and Infant Bonding
Provide greater maternal sensitivity and responsiveness to infant’s needs by indulging in Breastfeeding. It also increases the mother and infant bonding with skin-to-skin contact. Bonding hormones called Oxytocin are released when you breastfeed your kid. Moreover, it gives newborn kids the warmth they want to fulfill emotional support as you embrace your little ones close to the heart.
How to Start Breastfeeding Your Newborn?
Although Breastfeeding is a natural process, it comes with little stress for new mothers. If you are reading this, you should not be worried about how to enjoy motherhood.
Making eye contact and holding your baby in the right way is the key to emotionally breastfeed your newborn infant. Follow these easy steps to breastfeed your infant in the best possible way:
Find a Comfortable Place to Sit: Setting up several breastfeeding stations around your home is important. Carry washcloth, baby blanket beforehand you start breastfeeding so that you won’t break the skin-to-skin connection formulated between you and your toddler as he/she breastfeeds.
Finalize the Position You Want to Breastfeed In: You must know to forget that skin-to-skin contact between you and your toddler is very important when breastfeeding your infant.
This will build good bonding between both. The best you could do is lay your baby down on your bare tummy, followed by the infant’s head resting between your breasts. This would be the perfect approach to give your kid the warmth they want while breastfeeding.
Get A Good Latch: You need to gently press the toddler’s head into your breast when the mouth falls open. Follow the practice of pushing your nipple into the baby’s mouth while placing their head closer to you! Doing this will result in the views of the nose to the chin touching your whole body. Whenever you feel like your breast is pulled inward, consider that you have a good latch.