A mother’s relationship with her child is deeper than anyone can imagine, because of the first nine months of the child’s life, that she invests nurturing and growing him/her in her womb. What makes it even stronger is the time spent in breastfeeding her baby.
The benefits of breastfeeding your baby right from the beginning, are many. And this World Breastfeeding Week, we wish to remind you why you should encourage it.
- It is strongly recommended that your baby should be exclusively breastfed till he/she turns six months old.
- Nothing else (water, honey, formula milk) should be given apart from breastmilk until your baby is six months old.
- Adequate burping should be given after each feed up to 20mins.
- It is very important to not deprive the baby of the colostrum, the first pale yellow milk that the mother produces. It is considered your baby’s first immunization because it contains large quantities of an antibody called secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) that helps the baby fight antibodies even before the development or strengthening of his/her immune system.
- Always follow room in (mother and baby in the same room), Bedding in ( mother and baby in the same bed).
- Feeding should be provided on demand.
- Formula cannot match up to all the nutrients your breast milk can provide that your baby needs for the first six months. It helps the baby resist infection and disease, even later in life.
- Never use a bottle for feeding, or artificial nipples, teets, or pacifiers.
- Breast milk helps develop your baby’s eyes, brain and other body systems. Breastfeeding is also very important because while the baby is sucking, he/she is developing a strong jaw.
- In the event of loose stools for babies less than 6months breastfeeding is the best solution and nothing else should be given not even water or ORS.
- Breastfeeding also reduces the chances of your child becoming over weight later in life.
- Breastfeeding is also beneficial for the mother’s health by faster recovery post delivery, prevents bleeding, helps in relaxing the mother, reduces obesity, prevents breast and uterine cancer later in life.
- Mothers right after delivering a baby are at a risk of suffering hemorrhage, breastfeeding can avoid such complications in mother.
- It also reduces your risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
- Exclusive breastfeeding prevents pregnancy in lactating mothers.
- Breastfeeding burns calories, a mother’s body burns almost 20 calories to make just an 30 ml of breastmilk.
- Breastfeeding your child not only helps your daughter but also your granddaughter. It is studied that the adequate nutrition provided during the first 6 months lays the foundation for the baby’s fertility and her pregnancy.
- With all these benefits, it is also important to start complimentary feeding your baby with semisolids along with breast milk after six months and to continue breast feeding the baby upto 2yrs of age.
We at Siva Children’s hospital, promote and wish to normalise breastfeeding as much as possible. We wish for our patients to understand that developing a bond over feeding your child is one of the most blissful and beautiful things that could ever happen to you, and there should be no stigma or awkwardness surrounding the idea of feeding your child anywhere. It is only natural and biological to feed the baby when they are hungry.
About the Hospital:
Sai Siva Childrens Hospital, Chanda Nagar, is a full-fledged medical facility specially designed for pediatric patients as well as young adults. The hospital was started in the year 2008, with the aim of reaching out to schools and villages to educate the middle and high school students about health & hygiene. Sai Siva Children’s Hospital is one of the most sought after children’s hospitals in Hyderabad with a team of experienced doctors and skilled staff who aim to help your child have healthy growth and development. We believe that children today are the future of our world, and must have good health to make the world a better place to live in.