Child Development and Public Health - Breastfeeding

      I have always heard that breast-feeding is a healthy way to feed babies. This topic is interesting to me because I wanted to learn specifically about the benefits of breast-feeding.  This concerns me because I see children who have different problems such as colic disorders and other problems. I have wondered would babies be better off if they would be breast-fed.

  

   “For most newborns, good nutrition starts with mother’s milk” (Berger, 2009, p.154).  In addition, “Compared to cow’s milk, human milk is sterile, at body temperature, with iron, vitamins, and other nutrients for the brain and body” (p. 154). Actually, this causes human milk to have what the baby needs for months. In addition, when children are breast fed, the likelihood that babies will develop some childhood and adult health problems diminishes.  The diseases or health problems that decrease in breast-fed babies and adults are “asthma, obesity, and heart disease" (p. 154).  

     Breast-feeding is also beneficial for mothers. Mothers who breast-feed have the following positive effects:  “Decreased postpartum bleeding, decreased menstrual blood loss, and the uterus returns to its pre-pregnancy state more rapidly. They also tend to experience an earlier return to pre-pregnancy weight, as well. Over the course of their lives, research has shown that mothers who have breastfed their children have a decreased risk of ovarian and breast cancer and a decreased risk of hip fractures and osteoporosis in the post-menopausal period. Moreover, breastfeeding promotes a strong emotional connection and psychological bond between mother and child” (Higa, 2011, p. 1)

   Today hospital staffs are working harder with mothers to help them breast successfully (Department of Health and Human Services Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 2011,   p. 1). Unfortunately, only 5% of hospitals in the United States fully work to help the baby and mother experience success in breast feeding (p.1).

  

   A long-term study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies tracked the lives of 5000 children and showed that “by the time babies was six months old the number who were being exclusively breastfed had dropped to 14 per cent, compared to 80 per cent at birth and 56 per cent at three months old” (Cooke, 2008, p. 1).

  

   This  topic will affect my future work because of the way it will benefit not only the mother, but the baby too. I think that the benefits will help the mother to feel more like taking care of her baby and the baby will be healthier. Being that taking care of a baby is a big responsibility, therefore if the mother feels better, she will be more capable when taking care of her baby.

Sources:

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

CDC. (2011). Breastfeeding Report Card_ United States.  Retrieved from: www.breastfeedinghawaii.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=43&Itemid=55.

Cooke, D. (2011). Australian babies are not breastfed enough. Essential Baby. Retrieved from: http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/baby/breastfeeding/australian-babies-not-breastfed-enough-20080620-2u27.html.

 Higa,L.(2011 ). Benefits: Why Breastfeed? Retrieved from:                  www.breastfeedinghawaii.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=43&Itemid=55.