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From the Stone Age until just
a few generations ago, human infants’ only sustenance
was mother’s milk, but modern infant formula seems to be
an adequate substitute. After all, infant mortality in
Western societies is at historic lows and growth patterns
are normal. But is that all there is to it? Could there be
other advantages to breastfeeding, both to the mother and
to the infant?
Post-delivery stress
discomfort. All those hours of labor may be natural, but
they are exhausting and stressful for mom. It’s not so
easy on baby, either! First, that cushion of fluid
suddenly vanishes in a big gush as labor begins. Then
comes the big squeeze as the infant is mashed against the
opening of the uterus, and through a birth canal that is
so narrow that the baby’s skull elongates just to fit
through. It takes a day or so before a newborn’s head
gets its normal rounded shape back.
Enter endorphins,
morphine-like hormones that the body produces, and that
relieve pain and stress. Beta endorphin appears in the
early milk (colostrum) of mothers who deliver naturally,
but there is much less in the breastmilk of mothers who
undergo Caesarian section, and who bypass a stressful
labor. Even higher levels appear in the colostrum of those
mothers who deliver prematurely, and whose infants might
have undergone even more stress before and during
delivery. Nature thus helps to make the transition from
the cozy, quiet womb to the outside world a little easier.
Baby’s suckling helps
healing. After a successful delivery, the new mother feels
the continued contractions of her uterus as it begins to
return to normal size. That shrinking is critical in
reducing blood loss after separation of the placenta. The
baby that is put to the breast during the first hour or
two gets nothing but a few drops of colostrum for its
effort, but sucking on the empty breast increases the
contraction of the now-empty uterus. That helps to limit
the mother’s blood loss, and it could have been a
critical factor in primitive humans.
A breast has to grow up. A
woman that has never been pregnant may think that her
normal-appearing breasts are fully mature, but from a
biological point of view, they are not. The normal cycle
of breast development begins with adolescent budding, but
it does not end until the breast secretes at least some
milk. During that interval, especially during the
adolescent years, breast tissue is susceptible to toxic
agents. That might explain two observations about breast
cancer. First, women who smoke during their teen years
have a greater risk of breast cancer than those that do
not. Second, women who breastfeed are less likely to
develop breast cancer, at least in their premenopausal
years, as well as ovarian cancer.
Infant formula: how boring!
The can of infant formula that Dad plucks off the
supermarket shelf on the day of baby’s birth contains
exactly the same ingredients as the formula that the
infant will receive 2 weeks, 2 months or 12 months later
(unless Dad switches brands). That’s not so for
breastmilk. Colostrum contains antibodies and live cells
that will protect the newborn from infection and help to
develop its immune system. Day by day the mother will
notice that her breastmilk becomes thinner and more
bluish, until by 6 weeks it becomes consistently the same
in appearance. Actually, the composition of breastmilk
changes every single day until weaning occurs. That’s
because the baby’s developing body, especially the
brain, has different requirements every day. There are
hundreds of components of breastmilk that vary according
to the growing infant’s needs, in a sequence that was
laid down by Nature hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Thanks, Mom. That was
delicious! You won’t find mint-flavored infant formula
at the local market, or any with a distinctive flavor.
That would never get past the folks at Quality Control.
But mother’s milk reflects mother’s diet. In years
past, pediatricians advised breastfeeding mothers to avoid
onions, garlic or spicy, highly flavored foods. That was
the wrong advice, and I was guilty of it. Babies that are
exposed to a variety of flavors that come through
mothers’ milk take more readily to solid foods than
formula-fed infants, for whom every food flavor is new and
strange. Think of all the mealtime fussiness that would
avoid!
And it will make you feel
better. During the first year following delivery, mothers
who breastfeed are only half as likely to suffer from
depression as those who do not nurse their infants. That
is not a minor issue, because approximately 10 percent of
women become depressed within the first 6 weeks of
delivery. This mental boost may be due to a hormone called
oxytocin, which is released during nursing and also causes
those contractions of the uterus that I mentioned earlier.
There were no feeding
options back in the Stone Age, but the decision to not
breastfeed may be unavoidable for some mothers. For those
who are ambivalent, these benefits may provide a little
incentive.
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About
The Author
Philip
J. Goscienski, M.D. is a pediatric
infectious diseases specialist with a
45-year career in clinical and academic
medicine. Dr. Goscienski has written for
the Saturday Evening Post and Currents,
the national newsletter of the American
Heart Association and is a featured writer
for North San Diego County Magazine. He
has drawn on his interests in biology,
anthropology, paleopathology and physical
fitness to develop Better Life Seminars, a
series of presentations in which he
explains how our most distant ancestors
lived, and how we can apply this knowledge
to extend our healthspan and avoid the
major chronic diseases of our age. His
book, Health Secrets of the Stone Age is
based on his seminars, and on the most
recent findings in medical and
anthropological research. It is scheduled
for a January 2005 release date. You can
visit his web site at www.stoneagedoc.com. |
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