Neurological Effects Of The Prenatal Maternal Nutrition And Breastfeeding Of Infants Essay

Recent research has shown the importance of breastfeeding to infant babies for healthy growth and development of important organs such as the brain. Children who are breastfed developed a high IQ and a good cognitive functioning ability. The infant gets the nutrients from the mother inside the worm and through breast-feeding after birth. The mother's milk has important nutrients such as fatty acids (which promote neuronal growth), iodine, vitamins and carbohydrates. Prenatal maternal nutrition is concerned and addresses the nutrients that the infant gets during the pregnancy after birth which have an impact on the infant birth weight and the growth of the baby. What a mother eat in the course of pregnancy and after giving birth, has a great influence on the development of the infant. However, mothers are caution against eating excessive, which can have negative effects on the infant since the infant can suffer from obesity or diabetes.
It has been a traditional health recommendation all over the globe to breastfeed infants for six months after birth before introducing them to any other food. However, nowadays mothers especially in the developed countries e.g. USA have a prevalence to formula milk to human milk. This prevalence is due poor education on the nutritional value of human milk, other are busy too busy at work to breastfeed. This formula milk has negative effects on the baby cognitive function, weight and digestive complications that can be life threatening to the infants.
Therefore, this calls for collective campaign on the importance of the breastfeeding to the infant on what they stand to gain from the human milk and what risks we are exposing our beautiful babies when we feed them formula milk. Expectant mothers need training on diet to adopt during pregnancy and the value of human milk. This drive will help the country develop a healthy nation with children who can function well and have a high IQ.