World Breastfeeding Week 2019

World Breastfeeding Week 2019, In order to improve the health of babies around the world and encourage breastfeeding, it is celebrated every year from 1 August to 7 August. It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990 by government policymakers, WHO, UNICEF and other organizations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.

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World Breastfeeding Week 2019, promote the importance of family-friendly policies to enable breastfeeding and help parents nurture and bond with their children in early life when it matters most, for the same WHO is working with UNICEF and partners. This includes enacting paid maternity leave for a minimum of 18 weeks, and paid paternity leave to encourage shared responsibility of caring for their children on an equal basis. Mothers also need to have access to a parent-friendly workplace to protect and support their ability to continue breastfeeding upon return to work by having breastfeeding breaks with a safe, private, and hygienic space for expressing and storing breastmilk, and affordable childcare.

World Breastfeeding Week 2019 promotes better health for both mother and child in a similar way. More than 800 000 lives could be saved every year with an increase in breastfeeding nearly at the universal level. It decreases the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease for mother. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding immediately within an hour after birth and until the baby is 6 months old. Other nutritious complementary foods should then be added while continuing to breastfeed for up to 2 years or beyond.

Benefits of Breastfeeding:

There are so many benefits of breastfeeding, it will help you both the mother as well as the baby. Here, we are exploring some benefits for both.

Breastfeeding Benefits for Baby

Breast milk is nature’s perfect baby food. It contains immunity-boosting antibodies and healthy enzymes that scientists have yet to replicate. Here, we are exploring the advantages of breast milk for babies:

• Protects Against Allergies and Eczema. If you have any history of anything either in your family, it may be especially beneficial for you to breastfeed. Proteins in other milk such as cow’s milk and soy milk formulas can stimulate an allergic reaction, while the proteins in human breast milk are more easily digested.

• Lessens the risk of SIDS. Although the connection is unclear, breastfed infants account for only half as many SIDS cases as formula-fed infants do.

• Makes vaccines more effective. According to research, breastfed babies have a better antibody response to vaccines than formula-fed babies.

• Protects against diseases. breastfeed protect you against diseases like spinal meningitis, type 1 diabetes, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. You give your baby immune factors and white blood cells through breast milk.

• May make your baby smarter. Research is still indecisive, but studies are pointing out that breastfed babies had higher IQ scores later in life, even when taking socioeconomic factors into consideration. The fatty acids present in breast milk are thought to be the brain boosters.

• Could help prevent obesity. Some studies show that breastfed infants are less likely to be obese later in life. The theory is that nursing mothers get in tune with signals that their baby is full, and don’t overfeed.

• Brings baby close to you. Bottle-fed babies form bonds with their parents too, of course, but the skin-to-skin contact of breastfeeding is reassuring to a newborn.

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Breastfeeding Benefits for Mom:

The benefits of breastfeeding don’t only extend to your baby. It turns out that breastfeeding can boost your health as well, since it:

• Lowers your risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Studies show that women who breastfeed have less risk of these cancers later in life.

• Helps you lose pregnancy weight. Because milk production burns about 300 to 500 calories a day, nursing mothers tend to have an easier time losing pregnancy weight in a healthy way—that is, slowly and without dieting.

• Triggers your uterus to shrink back to prepregnancy size. In fact, in the first few weeks, you might feel mild contractions while you’re nursing.

• May lower your risk of osteoporosis. Women who breastfeed have a lower risk of postmenopausal osteoporosis. When a woman is pregnant and lactating, her body absorbs calcium much more efficiently.

• Heals your body after delivery. The oxytocin released when your baby nurses help your uterus contract, reducing post-delivery blood loss. Plus, breastfeeding will help your uterus return to its normal size more quickly—at about six weeks postpartum, compared with 10 weeks if you don’t breastfeed.

• Delays menstruation. Breastfeeding your baby around the clock—no bottles or formula—will delay ovulation, which means delayed menstruation.

Conclusion:

Well, it is a well-known fact that breastfeeding is anyways beneficial to the baby and the mother. If you have any doubt regarding the duration of breastfeeding and when to wean then you should consult your pediatric, he is the one who can guide you well. Dr. Ankur Sethi is of the top child specialist near me. He has an experience of 17 years in the field of pediatrics. Consult him if your ward is facing any health issue.

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