Breast-feeding

Advocates of breast-feeding may come across as strident, even prescriptive pontificating would-be dictators. Were that to be the case, it would be a real shame because their cause is a particularly worthy one.

Breast-feeding was on the wane for the most part of the late 1960s and ‘70s. A revival was seen from the mid to late 80s and 90s but in the first decade of the 21st century that revival shows signs of stalling. The most worrying aspect of it is that, in industrialized western countries, the lowest rates of breast-feeding is seen in the people in the lowest strata of society, who would arguably, benefit the most.

Breast-milk is superior to formula milk, of that there is no doubt. It has several clear advantages, as we shall discuss shortly.

There are only a few contraindications to breast-feeding and these touch only a small minority of mothers. Occasionally breast-feeding is not possible, in spite of good intentions and determined efforts by the mother.

Apart from the advantages that the baby gets by being breast-fed, the mother also benefits.

Contraception is more effective;
She may remain period-free for months;
Weight gained during pregnancy is lost more rapidly and more easily; and
There is the important issue of bonding, which is evidently stronger with breast-feeding.

There are many variables that need to be taken into consideration when deciding whether to breast-feed or not. All these are discussed here.

Milk production during pregnancy

Milk is not produced during pregnancy. This is because of the very high level of the hormone estrogen in circulation during pregnancy. This inhibits the action of the hormone prolactin, which is responsible for milk production.

Soon after delivery, levels of oestrogen fall quite dramatically. This eliminates the inhibitory effect of estrogen and allows the hormone prolactin, the levels of which are already quite high, to stimulate production of milk. By 48 hours after delivery, milk starts to be produced and by the end of the fourth day, it is in full-flow.

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Breast feeding has many advantages for both mother and baby

Both mother and baby benefit enormously from breast-feeding