The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous. I breastfed each of my two sons for at least two years. Many factors influenced my decision. Primarily, I breastfed in order to ensure excellent health for my sons. I felt that the antibodies that I would pass through my breastmilk to my babies could only benefit them. The second factor was economic. My first son, Blue Sky was born while his father and I were both finishing up our BAs. Money was tight and breastfeeding is free. Twenty three months later, breastfeeding my second son, Jem Moon, in spite of our slightly better economic status was a natural and logical decision that required no forethought. After nearly two years of nursing Blue, I tandem nursed both boys until Blue was ready to wean. The benefits of breastfeeding that suprised me were the convenience (I became well practiced at the art of discrete public breastfeeding), weight loss (it takes hundreds of extra calories per day to produce enough breastmilk for one child, nevermind two), the calming effect that nursing the boys had on all parties involved, and the intense bonding that occurred between each of the boys and I.
I recently read a journal article about a study that was conducted over a five year period that measured the effects of breastfeeding on a child's vocabulary. The findings indicated that breastfed babies had a more extensive vocabulary at 5 years of age as indicated by the child's score on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised Assessment (PPVT-R). Additionally, the longer that a child was breastfed from birth, the higher the child's score on the PPVT-R ( Quinn, et al, 465-66).
In India, breastfeeding is both "universal and prolonged". Cultural practices that are influenced by ideas of purity, food restriction and avoidance, the perceived pollution that is brought on by childbirth, ritual seclusion of mother and child effect breastfeeding practices. For example, colostrum, the yellowish, nutrient-dense fluid that precedes the coming of breastmilk immediately after giving birth, is considered to be unhealthy for the newborn, according to Hindu and Muslim cultures. Therefore, the colostrum is expressed and discarded. The newborn is given hot water for the first 24-48 hours after birth until the mother's breastmilk comes in. Newborns miss out on the nutritional and immunological jumpstart that is provided by colostrum (Bandyopadhyay).
Ritual practices involving the post-natal nourishment of mothers also affect breastfeeding practices. Mothers are required to avoid certain foods in order to protect the health of their newborn as well as their own. Some foods that must be avoided are acidic citrus fruits, spices, bananas, fibrous vegetables, yogurt and melons. Mothers must eat only once per day during their post-natal period of confinement-up 40 days. Some foods that are desirable for new mothers to eat are garlic, ghee, milk and some types of fish. Dry foods such as rice crisps are eaten to promote the contraction of the uterus. The avoidance of food in general (except for 1 meal per day) and the types of food that are allowed inhibit lactation and the nutrients that are passed via the breastmilk to the newborn ( Bandyopadhyay).
References
Bandyopadhyay, M. Impact of Ritual Pollution on Lactation and Breastfeeding Practices in Rural West Bengal, India. International Breastfeeding Journal (2009), 4(2).
Quinn, P; O'Callaghan, M., Willliams, G., Najman, J., Andersen, W. The Effect of Breastfeeding on Child Development at Five Years: A Co-hort Study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health (2001) 37 (5): 465-9.
I recently read a journal article about a study that was conducted over a five year period that measured the effects of breastfeeding on a child's vocabulary. The findings indicated that breastfed babies had a more extensive vocabulary at 5 years of age as indicated by the child's score on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised Assessment (PPVT-R). Additionally, the longer that a child was breastfed from birth, the higher the child's score on the PPVT-R ( Quinn, et al, 465-66).
In India, breastfeeding is both "universal and prolonged". Cultural practices that are influenced by ideas of purity, food restriction and avoidance, the perceived pollution that is brought on by childbirth, ritual seclusion of mother and child effect breastfeeding practices. For example, colostrum, the yellowish, nutrient-dense fluid that precedes the coming of breastmilk immediately after giving birth, is considered to be unhealthy for the newborn, according to Hindu and Muslim cultures. Therefore, the colostrum is expressed and discarded. The newborn is given hot water for the first 24-48 hours after birth until the mother's breastmilk comes in. Newborns miss out on the nutritional and immunological jumpstart that is provided by colostrum (Bandyopadhyay).
Ritual practices involving the post-natal nourishment of mothers also affect breastfeeding practices. Mothers are required to avoid certain foods in order to protect the health of their newborn as well as their own. Some foods that must be avoided are acidic citrus fruits, spices, bananas, fibrous vegetables, yogurt and melons. Mothers must eat only once per day during their post-natal period of confinement-up 40 days. Some foods that are desirable for new mothers to eat are garlic, ghee, milk and some types of fish. Dry foods such as rice crisps are eaten to promote the contraction of the uterus. The avoidance of food in general (except for 1 meal per day) and the types of food that are allowed inhibit lactation and the nutrients that are passed via the breastmilk to the newborn ( Bandyopadhyay).
References
Bandyopadhyay, M. Impact of Ritual Pollution on Lactation and Breastfeeding Practices in Rural West Bengal, India. International Breastfeeding Journal (2009), 4(2).
Quinn, P; O'Callaghan, M., Willliams, G., Najman, J., Andersen, W. The Effect of Breastfeeding on Child Development at Five Years: A Co-hort Study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health (2001) 37 (5): 465-9.
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