Hundreds of years ago there was no question: newborns went to the breast for the only food that would enable them to survive—mother’s milk. But today it’s not so simple. With a variety of infant formulas posing safe alternatives to breastfeeding, and lots of questions accompanying a decision to nurse (How can I be sure my baby gets enough? How does Dad stay included? What about my own bodily privacy? And my time?) it seems fair to ask “why breastfeed at all?”.
Breastfeeding, how important is it? Is whether to feed with breast or bottle simply a matter of personal preference? Given that nursing is time-intensive and potentially inconvenient, is it, well...a luxury rather than a necessity? And anyway, isn’t breastfeeding just another way of getting food into your baby? Our answer to those questions comes from twenty-plus years of observing mothers and babies and offering them help, support, and information. It comes from understanding through intensive study and hands-on learning the biological science of lactation. And the answer we offer is this: Breastfeeding is important. Vitally so. It is the single biggest advantage you can give your developing baby, and the least expendable work of being a new parent. It’s one of the most intimate and emotionally binding experiences that we humans can have. And the “inconvenience” may actually turn out to be the best part. Why? For starters, human breast milk is the best food on earth for human babies. It is metabolized much more efficiently than either formula or cow’s milk. It contains live antibodies that protect babies from illness and when they do get sick, the symptoms are usually milder. Breastmilk also contains enzymes that protect baby from most of the infections to which the mother has ever been exposed. It boosts the immune system and invests an infant with protection against chronic diseases (including some cancers) that lasts her entire lifetime. And recent studies of infant brain development are compelling: breastfed children are statistically smarter, consistently scoring higher than formula-fed babies on mental aptitude tests until as late as ten years of age. (If you’d like to learn more about why, the books listed at right offer research and details about what makes breastmilk so good for growing brains and bodies, and how it compares with other options.)
What about infant formulas? Formula manufacturers work hard on their products but, somewhat surprisingly in this age of advanced biotechnology, the composition of breastmilk is stubbornly resistant to replication. That is because breastmilk is a living, organic substance; an incomparable, unique biological compound. No two women’s milk is identical, and milk from the same woman changes composition based on baby’s evolving needs, the mother’s diet, even the time of day. (The taste of breastmilk also varies greatly with mother’s food choices; babies exposed to it over time tend to be more accepting of new flavors later when solids are introduced.) It may be decades before researchers fully identify all the things in breastmilk that make it so great for physical and mental development. Until then, the fact is that infant formulas are, at best, incomplete imitations of nature’s original: mother’s milk.
The non-nutritional benefits of breastfeeding. Aside from the value of breastmilk as food, the act of nursing itself does good things for babies and their mothers. The close, skin-on-skin contact and the intense oral stimulation of suckling make for one of the richest touch experiences baby can have—which in turn shapes later tactile sensitivity as well as visual and oral development. It has proven enormously beneficial to the emotional development and physical growth of babies born prematurely and babies with special needs. And it’s good for mothers too—releasing yummy hormones (prolactin and oxytocin, also known as “nature’s tranquilizers”) that help offset the pressures and sleep deprivation that come with new motherhood. Besides, nursing burns lots of calories, so women who do it tend to return to their pre-pregnancy weight much faster—often while postponing the resumption of menstruation. It builds bone density, helping stave off osteoporosis. And a surprising bonus: breastfeeding reduces a woman’s risk of contracting breast cancer by a combined 4% for every year she nurses as well as having an effect on ovarian, or endometrial cancer. We think breastfeeding is worth the effort just for the lasting health benefits it provides mothers and babies. But there’s more. Over the years many women have told us the gentle, intuitive intimacy of breastfeeding fostered in them a sense of confidence in their own mothering abilities, instilling an approach to parenting that lasted long after weaning. We’ve heard mothers talk about how the “inconvenience” of nursing—the time commitment of staying on-call for a new baby—actually turned out to be the best part, helping them shift gears, slow down and savor the tender moments that we all know are too fleeting. They see the time spent as an early and profound investment in parenthood. The choice to breastfeed—just like the choice to become a parent—entails work. Hard work, sometimes. Joyful, rewarding, life-affirming, occasionally frustrating, empowering, thrilling, tiring, fulfilling, tender, loving work. It’s work that only a woman can do. And there is little work in the world that’s as important.
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