The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Primary Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the World Health Organization recommend that mothers exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first six months after delivery (Stuebe). In fact, the World Health Organization states that even after solid foods are started at six months, the mother should continue breastfeeding her child for at least two years or as long as she is able to produce milk (Breastfeeding Action Group 1). These organizations are quite correct in issuing these recommendations for as opposed to formula milk, breast milk and the natural practice of breastfeeding immensely benefit the health of the mother and her baby.
But, despite these strong recommendations by such reputed organizations, in the practical life breastfeeding falls far short of the advice among mothers today. One reason suggested for this discrepancy is varied practices in hospitals, with some not encouraging skin-to-skin contact between the mother and her baby soon after delivery, not supporting breastfeeding, and not initiating the practice soon after the baby’s birth. In fact, some hospitals even distribute packets of formula milk thereby indirectly discouraging mothers from feeding breast milk to their babies (Stuebe 228). No doubt, formula milk confers some benefits, but its risks do pose a serious concern for the health of the mother and her child, which can be easily avoided by taking to the natural course of breastfeeding.
Some Benefits of Formula Feeding
This is not to say that formula milk should be completely forgotten; indeed under some circumstances infant formula might be the best option available to the mother and the infant. For example, in a rare case the mother is unable to produce adequate quantities of breast milk owing to poor nutrition, improper hormone activity, or certain ailments. Sometimes, the breasts of the mother may become chapped or bleed and she cannot nurse her child until the breast heals. Also, breastfeeding is not recommended in HIV/AIDS mothers, those taking specific medications and those addicted to drugs and alcohol. In all these cases, formula milk acts as an effective nutrient supplement or breast milk replacement to keep up the pace of growth and development in infants (A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia). In fact, it can be said that in such situations, formula milk is the best available alternative to human milk (WebMD).
Formula feeding also confers a few more benefits. It makes feeding infants more convenient as it allows anyone around the infant to feed him, including the father, caretaker and relatives, thereby giving the mother some time to take rest and focus on her other activities and relieves her of night-time feeding duties. Particularly, if the father feeds the child, then the chances of the father-child bond becoming stronger increases right in the early years. In addition, when bottle feeding, the mother does not have to fret about the food she eats, how it might impact the breast milk composition and if the food will be tolerated by the child (WebMD). Moreover, as the infant formula takes longer to digest, the frequency of feeding is also lower as compared to when breast milk is fed (A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia)
The Risks of Formula Feeding
Even though formula milk carries these advantages, as far as the health of the infant is concerned, its risks far outweigh its benefits. Studies show that new born babies fed infant formula present an increased risk of morbidity and otitis media due to infections in their first year as compared to infants that were breastfed. This is because unlike breast milk, the formula milk does not contain immune factors, antibodies, human milk lipids and glycoproteins, and oligosaccharides that confer protection against infection to the baby. Research has also demonstrated lowered risk of gastrointestinal and lower respiratory tract infections in breastfed babies than in the formula fed ones for the same reason (Stuebe 224). In addition, while breast milk is necessarily sterile, there is always a possibility of formula milk getting contaminated by germs present in the environment, which increases the risk of infants contracting infections (Breastfeeding Action Group 1).
Another major risk of formula feeding that is very relevant to the present times is the increased threat of obesity, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes in the infants. Investigators have suggested that adipokines present in the breast milk regulate intake of energy thereby reducing the risk of obesity and associated diseases in the long run. In comparison, these adipokines are absent in formula milk (Stuebe 224).
In addition to GI and respiratory tract infections and obesity, formula milk is suggested to increase the risk of several other diseases in neonates such as asthma, allergies, cancer during the childhood, specifically leukemia, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, atopic dermatitis, type 1 diabetes, and lung and ear infections (Breastfeeding Action Group 2).
Several studies have also found that formula fed infants reach their developmental milestones later than the exclusively breastfed ones (Stuebe 224), perform less ably on intelligence tests, and show lesser development of the brain, which implies that breast milk promotes cognitive and neuro- development better than its formula counterpart. Mortality, primarily due to infection of the lung and diarrhea, has also been observed to be higher in babies fed formula milk as compared to those fed breast milk (Breastfeeding Action Group 1).
Breast Milk is Truly the Best Milk for Babies
Considering the several health risks for infants associated with formula milk consumption, there can be no doubt that breast milk is a better food option for new born babies. In fact, it can be said that breast milk is unsurpassed as a source of nourishment for infants because it is a natural product made especially for meeting the nutrient requirements of a growing neonate. The composition of a mother’s breast milk is formulated by nature to best suit the needs of her baby. Needless to say, its composition also best meets the still-developing digestive capabilities of the infant. Moreover, breast milk composition undergoes changes depending on the time of the day and month after month to adapt to the child’s growing needs (Jackson and Nazar).
In terms of its composition, breast milk is more suited to a baby’s nutrient needs than its formula counterpart. True, the amount of carbohydrates and proteins provided by human and formula milks is similar. But, the protein and carbohydrate qualities of breast milk are better than that in formula milk owing to a better amino acid profile and the presence of more amounts of prebiotics that improve the health of the digestive tract in the former. Also, as compared to formula milk, human milk contains higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids including docosahexanoic acid and eicosapentanoic acid that are essential for the development of the brain (Craig). The higher amounts of fat in breast milk also better support the development of adipose tissue in infants, which positively influences metabolism of glucose during adulthood (Gale et al. 668).
But what truly makes breast milk stand much taller than its formula counterpart is the presence of several protective factors that boost the development of the immune system in the infants to confer long-term health benefits. The presence of the protective factors in breast milk gains significant importance in light of the fact that in neonates the immune defenses are still immature making them quite prone to infections (Jackson and Nazar).
Unlike the formula milk, human milk contains immunologic constituents that enhance the ability of the infant’s body to fight disease-causing pathogens. One such component is secretory IgA, an antibody that is present in large amounts in breast milk. This antibody survives in the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts of infants and neutralizes infection-causing agents. In addition, colostrum, the breast milk secreted in the early days after delivery, contains significant quantities of leukocytes including T-cells, lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and B cells, which kill microbes responsible for several diseases. Apart from the immunologic factors, human milk also contains numerous antimicrobial agents such as lysozyme, lactoferrin, and complex sugars that inhibit growth of bacteria and their adherence to various organs (Jackson and Nazar).
. Thanks to the immune-boosting factors in the breast milk, breastfed infants show improved immune response to vaccination and reduced vulnerability to autoimmune disorders as adults. These factors also protect infants from ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and type 1 diabetes (Jackson and Nazar). The reduced risk of infant mortality due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in breastfed infants is also suggested to be due to these immunoglobulins and the protection they confer against infections (WebMD).
In addition to conferring health benefits to infants in terms of nutrient composition, breastfeeding as a practice has also been found to be better than bottle-feeding. Research has shown that breastfeeding permits infants to initiate and stop their feeding sittings on their own thereby allowing them to regulate their food intake themselves unlike bottle-fed ones (Gale et al. 668). The practice also enables infants to rouse more easily from sleep, particularly those between the ages of 2 to 3 months, when the risk of infant mortality due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is high (WebMD).
Breastfeeding Also Benefits Mothers
If breastfeeding benefits babies immensely, it confers equal advantages to the mother too. At the outset, breastfeeding is extremely convenient for the mother, as it can be done at anytime and anywhere as and when the baby demands. The mother need not fret over sterilizing the bottle preparing a formula, and warming it, which makes the practice quite suitable when traveling (WebMD).
Another important benefit that mothers who breastfeed derive is quicker weight loss post pregnancy (WebMD). Scientific investigation has shown that breastfeeding mobilizes calories and stores of excess adipose to effect loss of additional weight gained during pregnancy. Research has also demonstrated that the risk of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes is lower in mothers who breastfeed than in those who do not. Studies reveal that breastfeeding confers a positive effect on the levels of glucose, blood pressure and lipid metabolism in lactating women. These effects tend to persist even after weaning thereby conferring long-term health benefits to the women (Stuebe 226).
The risk of breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis is also lower in breastfeeding mothers, particularly in the premenopausal years (WebMD). Studies have found that lactation inhibits ovulation and leads to amenorrhea and terminal differentiation of the tissues of the breast thereby preventing them from undergoing transformations that could cause malignancy (Stuebe 226).
In light of the evidence presented by several scientific investigations, there remains little doubt that breastfeeding is the best for every baby and mother pair. Although efforts have been made to make the composition of the formula milk similar to its human counterpart, it still lags behind the latter in terms of the immune factors, bioavailability of nutrients, and ease of digestion. In addition, the man-made formula milk presents numerous health risks to the baby and the mother unlike breast milk, which improves their health, both in the short term and the long term. Keeping these points in mind, every mother must be advised that no matter how easy feeding formula milk may seem, it is always better to breastfeed an infant, if only to forge a stronger mother-child bond.
Works Cited
A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia (2016) Breastfeeding Vs. Formula Feeding. Nih.gov. National Institutes of Health. Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000803.htm>
Breastfeeding Action Group. “14 Risks of Formula Feeding.” INFACTCanada.ca. INFACT Canada, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <http://www.infactcanada.ca/pdf/14-Risks-Small.pdf>.
Gale, Chris, Logan, Karen M., Santhakumaran, Shalini, Parkinson, James RC., Hyde, Matthew J., and Modi Neena. “Effect of Breastfeeding Compared with Formula Feeding on Infant Body Composition: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 95. 3 (2012): 656-659. Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2012/01/30/ajcn.111.027284.full.pdf>.
Craig. “Formula Vs. Breastfeeding.” Healthcloud.co.uk. Health Cloud, 21 August, 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2016. <http://www.thehealthcloud.co.uk/formula-vs-breastfeeding/>.
Jackson, Kelly M., and Nazar, Andrea M. “Breastfeeding, the Immune Response, and Long-term Health.” The Journal of American Osteopathic Association, 106. 4 (2006): 203- 207. Web 10 Mar. 2016. <http://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2093315>.
Stuebe, Alison. “The Risks of Not Breastfeeding for Mother and Infants.” Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology 2. 4 (2009): 222- 231. Web. 10 Mar. 2016 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2812877/>.
WebMD. “Breastfeeding May Cut SIDS Risk.” WebMD. WebMD, 13 June, 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2016. <http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/news/20110613/breastfeeding-cuts-sids-risk>.
WebMD. “Breastfeeding Vs. Formula Feeding.” WebMd. WebMD, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <http://www.webmd.com/baby/breastfeeding-vs-formula-feeding>.
