There are many reasons why breastfeeding is so amazing, but here are a few lesser-known ones:

Breastmilk is ALIVE..!! It is milk in its purist form that contains all the nutrients needed for your baby to grow and develop optimally in every way: physically, mentally, and also emotionally.

No other milk even comes close in comparison to how breastmilk is suited for human babies. E.g. breastmilk contains a different kind of fat, and a different kind of protein than is used in artificial infant milk.

Breastfeeding nurtures the mother-child bond. The hormones present in a nursing mother helps her to relax and care for her baby:

Prolactin, the hormone that is responsible for how much milk a mother makes, is called the “mothering hormone”. Due to this hormone, animals in the wild which are still nursing will fight to the death any intruder on their young. Once these mammals have weaned their offspring, they no longer feel this strong urge to protect them as they did before weaning. This is the way nature was designed. This is not to say that mothers who formula-feed their babies do not love and protect them! But there definitely is a powerful enhancement in the close bond and protection that breastfeeding mothers feel towards their babies, especially once they get over the initial ‘hardships’ of breastfeeding in the first few weeks.

Oxytocin, the “love hormone” that helps your milk to flow or “let down”, also helps you to totally relax and feel an amazing love wash over you for your baby. A breastfeeding mother will often feel like dozing off while feeding, and babies also quickly relax and want to nod off due to this hormone also being present in the breastmilk! No wonder mothers complain that baby is falling asleep at the breast!

Artificially-fed babies get sick on average 12-14 times in their first year of life, whereas breastfed babies get sick on average only once or twice! Think of the doctor’s fees, medication, possible antibiotics and/or hospitalization, sleepless nights, and general discomfort and distress that you are avoiding for you and your baby, simply by breastfeeding as was naturally intended.

Did you know that breastmilk contains everything in it that blood contains, except for red blood cells? Even white blood cells, which fight infection and disease, are present in large quantities in your breastmilk for your baby’s benefit. Having breastmilk is literally like having “on-tap” medicine! For example: besides being good for baby’s sticky eyes, breastmilk has been documented to cure pink-eye! (I personally have first-hand experience of this, as I was breastfeeding our 3rd child. When he was 11 months of age, I was nursing part-time night-duty in a children’s ward. I woke up the one afternoon having to get ready to go to work, and realized that both, but particularly my one eye, was red, itchy, weepy, and painfully scratchy. I had no time to stop by a chemist to buy medication for my pink-eye, so I took a small ‘eye-cup’ to work and rinsed my eyes out with my breastmilk during the night. Almost hourly, whenever my eyes reminded me of their infection by again becoming painfully scratchy, itchy and weepy, I would go into the nurses station, wash my hands, hand-express some breastmilk into the eye cup, and rinse each of my eyes out (fresh milk for each eye). I would then wipe my eyes, wash my hands and go back to work until the next time. Imagine my surprise when, by knock-off time that following morning, not only was my pink-eye going… It was GONE! My esteem for my very own ‘on-tap medicine’ escalated dramatically!) It has even been discovered that cancer cells die when placed into breastmilk. Put that in your proverbial pipe! So what are we short-changing our children with when we don’t breast??

Breastmilk contains natural enzymes that stimulate brain development. Those enzymes are present until the day your baby/toddler weans, so the longer you breastfeed, the longer your infant will be exposed to these brain-boosting nutrients!

Breastfeeding helps to reduce the incidence of children suffering from ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) so prevalent today. It feeds the brain with the correct balance of essential fatty acids, often said to be insufficient in children with ADHD. It is very important to eat foods rich in essential fatty acids before, during, and after pregnancy. These are found in raw nuts and seeds (not peanuts), avocado’s, and olives on a daily basis.

The correct ratio of these oils in natural seeds is:

3 teaspons of flaxseed/linseed (the small brown seeds)

1 teaspoon raw sunflower seeds (also called bird-seed 😉

1 teaspoon raw sesame seeds (tiny white seeds)

1 teaspoon raw pumpkin seeds (larger green seeds)

Grind these up in a blender or coffee-grinder and sprinkle over your salad or into your warm (not hot) oats, or fruit smoothies. Basically the ratio is that you half fill a small container with flaxseed/linseed, and the other half you divide equally into 3 parts with the other raw seeds. Mix these and grind as needed. Have 1-2 tablespoons of this mix every day, and also give this to your family. Most of us don’t get enough of these essential fatty acids on a daily basis and wonder why our health suffers. Essential fatty acids are called “essential” because they are as essential as oxygen or water. Our bodies can’t produce them, so we have to consume them daily.

Breastmilk changes as your baby grows into a toddler. As baby starts to crawl and walk, your milk actually contains more antibodies and protein for your baby’s growth and added protection as they explore the world around them, not less, as some are led to believe! There is NO truth to the thought that breastmilk is no longer nutritious when baby is a year old!

To breastfeed may be a mother’s choice, but it’s a baby’s birthright. Enjoy nurturing your baby!

(C) Yulanda Ridge

About the author:

Yulanda Ridge, IBCLC, RLC

(International Board Certified Lactation Consultant)

Yulanda has been helping moms and babies since 1995 with regards to breastfeeding. A married mother of 3 with some nursing background, Yulanda currently works as a Lactation Consultant in Private Practice.