We realize that not everyone breastfeeds, due to lifestyle choices or inability to produce milk. If you plan on breastfeeding, or do currently, here are some of the benefits. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, you should breastfeed for the first 6 months, exclusively. Breastfeeding not only has a lot of benefits for your baby but for you as well.
These are the top 7 benefits of breastfeeding:
1) It is the ideal nutrition for feeding your baby
Breast milk contains all the nutrients for the first 6 months of his life after baby is born, and always in the right proportions. The truth is that the breast milk changes according to your baby needs. For example, the first fluid that your breasts produce after giving birth is called colostrum. This is filled with a lot of protein, low in sugar, the perfect amount of calories per day, among other beneficial compounds. After a few days, new moms will notice that their milk flow increases because their babies need a larger amount.
2) Antibodies
Breastfed babies are less vulnerable to bacteria and viruses as breast milk is able to provide them with the right antibodies to fight them. When you are exposed to bacteria or viruses, you start producing antibodies that will pass to your baby through breastfeeding.
3) It reduces risk of disease
It's logical that human milk is the best food for human babies. When you are only breastfeeding your baby:
- will be less susceptible to respiratory infections
- will have a lower probability of having a middle ear infection
- probably won't suffer from gut infections
- won't likely develop throat or ear infections or get a serious cold
- will have a decreased risk of having atopic dermatitis, asthma, and eczema
4) Helps baby to maintain a healthy weight
One of the main problems of giving formula to your baby is that they tend to contain a lot of unnecessary sugar, unlike breast milk. So, your baby would have the tendency to be overweight.
5) Lose your extra weight
When you are breastfeeding your baby, you'll most likely lose excess weight without making any effort. This is because when you are breastfeeding, you use some of the fat cells stored in your body during pregnancy, as well as calories from your diet to fuel your milk production and feed your baby. Between 3 to 6 months after delivering, you'll notice that you are effortlessly losing weight while breastfeeding.
6) Helps to contract the uterus
When you are pregnant, your uterus naturally increases in size. What basically started with the size of a pear increases to take over of almost your entire abdomen. After delivery, your uterus will contract to go into its original size again. Usually, when you breastfeed, you will have less blood loss after the delivery and your uterus will contract faster.
7) Lower risk of depression
As you know, many women experience postpartum depression. The truth is that the period after the delivery is not easy and brings a lot of changes, especially for mom. However, women who breastfeed are less likely to suffer from postpartum depression.
Now that you know how many wonderful health benefits breastfeeding holds for both you and baby, you may be interested in learning some breastfeeding tips. If so, we recommend learning more from a lactation consultant when it comes to the best breastfeeding positions, how to time your nursing sessions, how to use a breast pump and more.
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