Why is Breastfeeding Better Than Bottle-Feeding? ~ 🍼 ~

Hugging, in general, is a behavior that requires at least two persons to be done and is mainly used to enhance the love relationship between huggers. I believe Allah made feeding a baby as a form of hugging that the mother does to increase the intimacy between her and her baby and give both an undescribed feeling. Carrying my daughter immediately after labor and touching her soft skin to feed her was a unique experience. I hope that every girl experiences this special feeling. That moment, I carried my daughter for more than one hour, just feeding her and looking at her beautiful face. However, it is not easy to breastfeed the baby; it needs a lot of time and patience. The cracking of the nipples is one of the most common problems that mothers suffered from. While breastfeeding increases the flow of emotions between the baby and the mother, the latter has to be very patient with all problems and difficulties.

Surprisingly enough, most mothers, especially if it is their first delivery, are puzzled about feeding the baby. They really want to provide very good food for their baby, but at the same time, they would like someone else to take care of the infant while they take a rest after labor. Wallace, the author of a CNN report published in 2016, found that recently some mothers who do not breastfeed forget the importance of the mother’s milk for the baby's health. The doctors and midwives right after delivery always try to help mothers regarding breastfeeding options. Because of the importance of this decision, I highly recommend all mothers to think carefully during the third period of pregnancy about how they will feed their babies because after the labor they surely will be very tired and will not like having any long discussions with anybody. For the importance of this issue, we as mothers need to ask why is breastfeeding better than bottle-feeding?

Recently, more mothers tend to hesitate about breastfeeding, and that is what the midwife told me when she was talking about the new life with the newborn baby. Now, most hospitals are starting to be what they call "baby-friendly" hospitals. The goal of this campaign is supporting and motivating moms to be exclusively taking care of their babies inside the hospital and feed them through their breasts, especially at the immediate moment after labor. This initiative comes after many studies and much research which proved that nursing the baby is not just feeding the infants, it also has many diverse advantages (Wallace). Personal advantages for the baby and the mother, plus environmental and social ones are all examples of such benefits.

Due to the cascade of this phenomenon, Wallace tried to raise the awareness of the factors that influence mothers to choose bottle-feeding over breastfeeding. Advertising is one of the most significant factors that encourages mothers to escape breastfeeding. Some formula companies produce a product of high quality and perfect technology. For example, one formula helps relieve the pain from gas. Other companies produce bottle nipples that look like the mothers' nipples to make the mission easier for the baby. Besides that, companies of baby milk powder compete to produce milk that provides the same benefits as the mothers' and use that in their commercials. They could not do such a thing because the mothers' milk has many antibodies that cannot be matched by any manufactured formula. To summarize, all of these new technologies are important to help mothers who choose not to breastfeed based on their situations. Still, it cannot replace the mothers' milk.

Choosing to breastfeed gives the children many benefits and develops the growing of the baby in healthy and other different ways. Firstly, if the baby is breastfed, he/she will not need anything else, even water. Pearlman, the author of "Feeding Your Baby The Safe and Healthy Way" (1972), explained this point by saying that mother's milk is a healthy and balanced food and matches the babies' needs. Second, it protects the baby from many diseases and viruses because it has many antibodies, which strengthen the baby's immunity to avoid infections. From my experience, I have breastfed my daughter for five months, and I notice that she is very healthy, and I did not need to visit the doctor for her except for her regular checkup appointments. Thirdly, the mothers' milk prepares the baby's tummy to receive the normal food after six months. The authors of "Another breastfeeding benefit: Preparing baby's belly for solid food" (2015), said "The transition to solids is much more dramatic for the microbiomes of babies that are not exclusively breastfed. We think the microbiomes of non-exclusively breastfed babies could contribute to more stomach aches and colic." Digesting food is a very complicated process, but exclusive breastfeeding provides a perfect tummy environment to make moving to the next period easier without facing difficulty. Fourth, the mothers' milk helps the growth of the mind and intelligence of the child. Wallace explained this point in her report saying that breastfeeding helps the baby to be smarter than another one who feeds through the bottles. Ultimately, the hormones which the mother's body secretes are good protectors for the baby's health. Moreover, they highly increase the emotional relationship between the mother and her baby and transfer the feeling of the mother's love to her child, so the mother should try to be happy and relaxed and avoid being angry and nervous during breastfeeding.

The baby normally is a helpless person who would need serving adults around him/her in order to feed, change the diapers, and get him/her to sleep. Breastfeeding provides other benefits for the babies lives. First of all, the mother's milk tastes the same as the food that the mother ate a few hours prior to the feeding time, so the baby will taste several flavors. In addition, Pearlman, on the same page said that if the baby suddenly becomes hungry, no matter what, he/she does not have to wait and will get his/her food immediately. All in all, breastfeeding is mutually beneficial between both the mothers and their babies.

During each period of an infants' growth, he/she needs specific nutrition, so the mothers' milk has special ingredients to satisfy the requirements of the baby in each period. The milk of the first phase continues for more than 20 days after the labor, and it is called colostrum. Sherman, the author of "A Nutritional View of Breastfeeding" (2013) wrote, the colostrum consists of less fat but more water, protein, antibodies and carbohydrates than other nutrition because this is what the baby needs most when he/she comes to our world. The second phase comes after the first one with other components because the baby needs an increase and his/her stomach is ready to receive heavier components. Normal milk contains lactose, vitamins, extra fat and more carbohydrates in addition to the components of colostrum. Besides, the amount of the mother's milk keeps increasing day by day because the baby's tummy is getting bigger, which means more milk is needed than before. Finally, the diversity of the components is one of the most important features that gives the mother's milk more preference over other options.

The benefits of breastfeeding are not only for infants, mothers have their shares, too. Sucking the nipples induces the mom's body to produce many hormones that help the uterus to retrieve its size. Breastfeeding, along with a healthy diet, would speed up the process of losing the gained weight during pregnancy because nursing the baby burns approximately five hundred calories a day. There is no one recommended diet that will work for all breast feeders, but breaking the total amount of daily intake into higher number of miniature meals is the usual approach. In other words, they should follow their instincts, but also avoid the food which has high fat and carbohydrates such as fast food (Diet for a Healthy Breastfeeding Mom, 2015). Additionally, preparing formula is harder than breastfeeding because bottles need to be washed, sterilized, and filled with water of an appropriate temperature. However, nursing a baby only needs washing the nipples and starting to feed (Pearlman). Furthermore, nursing improves the immune system of the mother's body. According to "Benefits of Breastfeeding for Mom" which was an excerpt from the book New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding, breastfeeding the baby reduces the mother's chances of being infected with dangerous diseases, such as cancer (2011). Moreover, the mother needs to carry fewer baby items than if her infant feeds through formula. In short, the benefits of nursing the baby cover many sides, not just the baby and his/her mother.

There are some other advantages of breastfeeding that could help the parents significantly in their life. First of all, breastfeeding helps the family economically." Benefits of Breastfeeding for Mom" describes how mother’s milk is less expensive than baby powder. If the baby is fed through formula on a monthly basis, the parents need to spend around 60 dollars or more just for the milk supply, excluding the cost of bottles and the formula dispenser. Another bright side of breastfeeding is saving the environment. The author added that breastfeeding is a green process because the mother does not need to buy any bottles, which would reduce the percentage of plastic in the earth. From my experience, nursing the baby actually encourages the mother to stay and spend more time with her infant. This behavior would greatly improve the baby’s social interactions because the baby's emotional needs will be satisfied. For all that, breastfeeding is an important daily action to make the baby grow perfectly with good health and social skills.

In some cases, the mother might be forced to not directly breastfeed her infant, instead pumping the milk and giving it to the baby later. Although it is the same milk, pumping is less beneficial for the mom because while the baby sucks the nipples, it stimulates the uterus which in turn helps it to recover sooner. I noticed this when I compared myself with my friend Safa'a who usually had to express her milk due to her work environment; however, I am mostly breastfeeding directly, and my body is recovering faster than hers. Additionally, some of the milk's nutrition could become less effective after a few hours of pumping. Thus the mother must buy a specific kind of bottle which saves the benefits and nutrition for a longer time. On the other hand, one major disadvantage of pumping is heating the milk to make the milk with an appropriate temperature. However, if the mother has a job or is a student like me, I think pumping is still better than powdered milk. Without a doubt, pumping is a very common practice that is done by many mothers who need to leave the house for more than three hours.

There are some specific situations that make mothers decide to go for the bottle instead of breastfeeding. Leaving the house for days is one of the special cases that makes the powdered milk the best alternative for mothers. Working mothers who have to travel for a conference or to close a business deal with a client are examples of this. Additionally, there are some health situations and diseases, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, that force mothers to use formula. The medicine for diseases like this could affect negatively the milk, and some of their components might transfer to the milk. That is what happened with my cousin when she got sick with IBS, the doctor prevented her from breastfeeding her daughter. Furthermore, the mother's milk could go low during woman's menstruation, so there are no other solutions except using formula. Foster, the author of "Breastfeeding and fertilizing" (2006) said, "Some women go two years or more without a period while they are breastfeeding, and some breastfeed without any supplementation and still have their menses return at a few months postpartum". The first period of mine, I thought the milk was vanished and that I would not breastfeed any more. However, my doctor calmed me down and told me that is a normal situation. All in all, there are some situations that make the powdered milk a better choice over mother's milk. After all, each woman knows her situation best and what is best for her.     

To sum up, I think breastfeeding is usually the best choice except for some special cases which were mentioned above. Pumping comes in the second place as it still contains most of the mother's milk ingredients. Formula is the last resort for those mothers who have to stay away from their babies for long periods. In the future, I think the "baby-friendly" campaigns will increase more and more to raise the mothers' awareness of the importance of breastfeeding which in turn would increase the percentage of breast feeders. 

 ~ 💙💙💙💙💙 ~

.. و في أمان الله ..

References:

Benefits of Breastfeeding for Mom. (2011, January 4). New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding, 2nd Edition. Retrieved from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/breastfeeding/Pages/Benefits-of-Breastfeeding-for-Mom.aspx

"Diet for a healthy breastfeeding mom". (2015, April). Reviewed by the BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board Retrieved from http://www.babycenter.com/0_diet-for-a-healthy-breastfeeding-mom_3565.bc

Foster, F. (2006, September-October). Breastfeeding and Fertility. Retrieved from http://www.llli.org/nb/nbsepoct06p196.html

Pearlman, R. (1972). Feeding Your Baby The Safe And Healthy Way. New York, NY: Random House.

Sherman, T. (2013, July 14). A Nutritional View of Breastfeeding. Retrieved from https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/gufoodstudies/2013/07/14/a-nutritional-view-of-breastfeeding/

Thompson, A. L., Cadenas, M.B., Monteagudo-Mera, A., Lampl, M. (2015, Feb 23). Another breastfeeding benefit: Preparing baby's belly for solid food. Retrieved from https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/uonc-abb020415.php

Wallace, K., ( 2016, January 29). Breast-feeding increase could save more than 800,000 lives annually. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/28/health/breast-feeding-global-rates-health-impact-lancet/