The controversy is not about to die, at least not yet. It is all about the question: how truly safe and desirable is exclusive breastfeeding?
First a background: Exclusive breast feeding means feeding your baby only breast milk, in other words, no other foods or liquids including infant formula or water should be fed the baby.
The only exceptions are medications or vitamins and mineral supplements.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until the age of 6 months, and then to start adequate and safe complementary feeding of other liquids and foods.
However, regarding the prevalence of 6 months exclusive breastfeeding recommended by WHO, some experts have observed that much improvement is still needed.
Feeding additional liquids – water, tea, fruit juice, and more – to breastfed infants under 6 months is a common practice; however, this might result to reduced breast milk intake which might contribute to effects such as premature weaning, lesser weight gain and increased risk of diarrhea.
Several diseases are associated with non-exclusive breastfed babies, such as diabetes, allergies, and pneumonia, among others.
All said and done, breast milk has all the nutrition and fluid your baby needs for the first 6 months, even in hot weather. Breast milk is better for your baby than any other food or fluid. Giving other fluids may decrease your baby’s desire for breast milk.
Exclusive breastfeeding has a lot of benefits in the development and growth of infants some of which are enumerated below:
READ ALSO: Why Medical Research Scientists Are Demanding Infant Mortality Audits
READ ALSO: High Maternal & Infant Mortality: Federal, Enugu Govts Move Into Action
- Breast milk shares antibodies from the mother with their baby. These antibodies help babies develop a strong immune system and protect them from illness.
- Breastfeeding can help protect babies against some short and long term illnesses and diseases. Breastfed babies have lower risk of asthma, obesity, type1 diabetes, and sudden infant death syndrome (SID).
- Breastfed babies are less likely to have ear infections and stomach bugs.
- Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for most babies. As the baby grows, the mother’s breast milk will change to meet her baby’s nutritional needs.
For the first six months of life, your baby’s intestine has small pores, like a net in it. If given any other food, nonhuman proteins can go through the pores into your baby’s food and cause allergies.
-Your baby’s body has iron stored from your body during pregnancy. Your breast milk has a protein that makes your baby’s body able to use that iron.
-Breastfeeding can reduce the mother’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.
-Breastfeeding has health benefits for the mother too.
It is important to not only breast feed but practice exclusive breastfeeding so infants can grow healthy.
