The current recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life, with a combination of breastfeeding and complementary foods until 12 months of age. From 12 months on, continued breastfeeding is encouraged to the age of 2 years as long as mother and baby are happy to do so. The WHO and the AAP are firm in their recommendations. They recognise that breastfeeding is the optimal method of feeding babies and that breastmilk is the optimal food for babies.
Despite these recommendations, breastfeeding rates are still relatively low. In Hong Kong in 2008, it was reported that 74.9% of babies were being breastfed upon discharge from hospital* with only 12.1% still being exclusively breastfed at 4- 6 months of age. This is lower than the breastfeeding rates reported in Australia in the 2001 Australian National Health Survey. The survey reported that 83% of babies were being breastfed upon hospital discharge with 18.4% of babies being breastfed at 6 months. In 2004, the Center for Disease Control in the United States reported breastfeeding rates at hospital discharge and at 6 months of age as 74% and 11% respectively.
There really is no substitute for breastmilk, despite aggressive marketing by formula manufacturers who claim that formula is ‘just like breastmilk’. The truth is, formula will never be able to mimic the true nature of breastmilk. Breastmilk is a constantly changing, species specific substance that has the ideal mixture of nutrients and substances for growing babies.
In a world where formula manufacturers are still convincing some mothers that formula is better for their babies, it is important to reflect upon nature’s true superfood, breastmilk.
Breastmilk:
- is species specific. It is designed for human babies. Formula is based upon cow’s milk and is merely an inferior imitation of human milk;
- has the perfect ratio of protein, fat and carbohydrate in a form that is easily digested;
- contains active enzymes which assist in the breakdown and absorption of nutrients in breastmilk;
- contains antibodies, immune factors, living cells and lymphocytes to help establish a babies’ immune system and protect them from illness;
- provides the vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes and hormones that a growing baby needs;
- is sterile and freely available;
- has a low total renal solute load, reducing stress on the infant’s kidneys;
- changes according to an infant’s needs and development and changes in composition throughout the day, month and year;
- changes in taste according to the mother’s diet. This exposes babies to a variety of tastes, thereby giving babies a platform through which they can explore a wide variety of tastes when they start eating solid foods;
- may reduce a babies’ risk of developing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, lymphoma, allergic diseases and other digestive disorders (as advised by the American Academy of Pediatrics’s 2005 position statement on Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk).
Benson and Masor, researchers for infant formula manufacturer, Abott Labs, state, “that they believe that creating an infant formula that replicates human milk would be impossible” (from the article, Formula for Disaster by Katie Allison Granju).
There really is no question, breast milk is the best milk for infants. Even in the face of problems with breastfeeding, it is possible that babies still receive their mother’s breastmilk (via expressing) and still confer a number of the health benefits associated with breastfeeding.
*A baby was considered to be breastfed upon discharge if the mother had attempted to breastfeed in the hospital. That is, babies could still be receiving formula in addition to the mother’s attempts to breastfeed. This is not reflective of exclusive breastfeeding whereby the baby receives only breastmilk. See the article The Endangered Art of Breastfeeding for more information.
