25 Reasons to Choose Breastfeeding

1. Human milk is designed for human babies. Many chemicals, additives, types of sugars, artificial vitamins & minerals must be added to cow's milk to make it tolerable for the human infant . . . but still it is not nutritionally-complete.
2. Human milk varies: During a feeding, over a day's time, from one breast to another, one mother to another & over time. The milk of the mother of a premature baby is higher in many of the growth factors & other nutrients her baby will need. In cold climates, there is more fat for energy. In hot, more water to prevent dehydration.
3. Human milk is low in iron, yet is well-utilized. An artificially-fed baby's gut bacteria takes most of the iron in formula, which encourages the growth of more bacteria which can cause gut damage, disease & blood loss. Zinc deficiency can be caused by too much iron.
4. Human milk is low in protein, yet contains other easily absorbed compounds for nutrition & protection against infection. Proteins in artificial formulas are not as well-utilized, so more protein must be added. To break down this extra protein & excrete the wastes causes an additional stress on your baby's immature liver & kidneys.
5. Human milk is ready-to-feed. Parents can & have made mistakes in preparing artificial formulas. Ranging from over-concentration (leading to hypernatraemia & brain damage) to over-dilution (leading to failure-to-thrive, even starvation) & sickness from poor hygiene & storage.
6. Human milk needs no added water. Most artificial formulas must be mixed with water, yet variations in the mineral & trace elements in water can be considerable. A formula with added fluorine, mixed with fluorinated water, may added up to a toxic level of an element known to interfere with enzyme action. Prolonged boiling concentrates the mineral load. Pollutants are being found even in treated city water.
7. Human milk helps to protect your baby from infections. Lactoferrin, the iron transfer protein, inhibits staphylococci, E. coli & thrush, unless your baby is overloaded with iron. The B12 transfer factor starves harmful bacteria to the nutrients essential for their growth. Yet, cow's milk is designed to encourage this bacterial growth for digestion, making it an ideal culture for the growth of bacteria which is harmful to humans.
8. Human milk comes in a safe container. In the past, there have been problems with the lead solder leaching into the artificial formula. This lead to the destruction of B vitamins in one formula in the 1950's. Lead is a cumulative poison that damages the brain. Tin-alloy cans leach tin, which can cause a zinc deficiency. High quantities of the plasticizers, used to line some formula cans, were found in the artificial milk after a conveyor belt malfunctioned.
9. Human milk can protect against the development of Childhood Diabetes. Due to the many nutritional differences, the breast-fed baby's endocrine responses differ from those of the artificially-fed baby.
10. Human milk is living tissue. It includes many substances that affect your baby's use of nutrients & also the immune capacity. Even the lack of one specific nutrient can cause immune deficiency.
11. Human milk contains, at last count, 60-70 enzymes. Since the function of some of these enzymes is still unknown, it is impossible to guess what the absence from artificial formulas might mean.
12. Human milk contains high concentrations of growth factors. Researchers say this may be important to the growth & reproduction of infant tissues. Growth factors are especially high in the milk of mothers of premature babies,. Insulin, also present in human milk, is considered to act as a growth factor. As well, growth factors protect the gastrointestinal tract & prevent the growth of duodenal ulcers.
13. Human milk contains human lactose. The high lactose content of human milk enhances the absorption or retention of several minerals. Lactose is vital for preserving the acid PH in your baby's gut, which favours the helpful bacteria needed to manufacture vitamins. Lactose is a crucial nutrient for brain growth. Artificial formulas use corn syrup solids, sucrose & other carbohydrates to replace this lactose.
14. Human nipples won't cause cancer. There has been great concern about the level of nitrosamines (chemicals known to cause cancer) in bottle nipples. In March 1984 the FDA began urging parents to boil bottle nipples several times before using them, changing the water each time, to lower nitrosamine levels. This may seem a trivial risk, yet those investigating stomach cancer must ask themselves about this very early exposure to the carcinogen known to cause stomach cancer.
15. Human milk is good "medicine". If you & your baby are exposed to some infection, your breast-fed baby doesn't have to fight the infection alone. Although your baby's immune system is as yet under-developed, your milk makes & provides a dose of the specific antibody needed, as well as the non-specific antibodies factors.
16. Human colostrum contains important antibodies. The secretory IGA coats your baby's intestines, to help prevent the entry of foreign substances through the stomach wall, that might lead to allergic reactions. Some is also absorbed to provide systematic protection. Colostrum is concentrated milk, especially designed to help baby's kidneys & all other systems adjust to their tasks.
17. Human milk concentrates its antibody level as your child slowly weans. Weaning begins the moment something other than human milk is added to your baby's diet. Whether bottles of artificial milk or solids, as your child nurses less the level of human milk consumed drops. Yet the level of antibodies rises. This is to help protect both your breasts & your weaning child from infection.
18. Human milk helps to protect against intestinal infections. This effect has been seen to be almost as dramatic in modern, middle-class community as in developing countries. In fact, human milk has been used as therapy in cases of chronic intractable diarrhoeal disease in older children, & is protective even against cholera.
19. Human milk can help prevent allergies. Prolonged exclusive breast-feeding will significantly reduce the incidence of food allergy & intolerance, even in families with a strong tendency to allergy. However, intrauterine sensitization is possible. Further, allergic foods can be transmitted through your breast milk. Changing your (the mother's) diet may bring instant relief.
20. Mothers have more control over their own pesticide & drug use than over the cow's milk used in formulas. When news reports come out about chemicals & pesticides found in human milk, there is never any mention of all the chemical pollution of formula. The pasture, the feed, the milk, the tanker that transports it, the water used in manufacture & preparation, the cans that store it . . . are even more at risk of being contaminated.
21. Human milk can reduce radio-active exposure. All babies begin to accumulate radio-active strontium in their bones before birth. For the breast-fed baby, the body content of stontium lowers as your baby excretes more than is taken in. However, the artificially-fed baby has increased strontium in his bones, as cow's milk can contain 6 times as much strontium as human milk. The mineral content balance of cow's milk ensures it is deposited on your baby's bones.
22. Human milk does not contain an over-dose of estrogen. Four New Zealand scientists say a baby drinking soya milk would consume 100 times the amount of natural estrogen that a breast-feed baby receives, equivalent to several contraceptive pills a day.
23. Breast-feeding your baby is associated with decreased dental caries. Milk does not pool in your baby's mouth (against the teeth) when suckling at your breast. The milk is ejected at the back of your baby's mouth & throat, spilling over the epiglottis (which covers the larynx), stimulating an immediate swallow reflex. When your baby falls asleep & stops suckling, the milk flow stops.
24. Breast-feeding your baby helps your uterus return to normal. Stimulated by lactation hormones, your uterus quickly reverts to normal. Delays have occasionally led to blood clots. The risk of blood clots (or embolisms) is greatly increased if a non-breast-feeding mother uses Stilboestrol, a drug used to suppress lactation.
25. Breast-feeding your baby helps to get your figure back. Lactation uses the fat deposited during your pregnancy for just this purpose - as long as you don't over-eat. Breast-feeding & gradual weaning resuatherine Young

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