A myth exists that breastfeeding is good for the mother and good for the infant. For the most part, this is not myth but fact. Women who don't have health problems should try to give their babies breast milk for at least the first six months of life. Breast feeding offers many benefits to the baby. Breast milk contains the right balance of nutrients to help your infant grow into a strong and healthy toddler. Some of the nutrients in breast milk also help protect your infant against some common childhood illnesses and infections. It may also help your health. Certain types of cancer may occur less often in mothers who have breastfed their babies.
However, breastfed infants aren’t always healthier. Shocking news now reports that mothers who breast feed and have asthma; may contribute to their infants having asthma later on in life. The relationship is: the longer asthmatic mothers breastfeed, the greater the risk of asthma to the child.
These findings are very controversial; therefore, before future mothers should not base their decision to breast feed or not on this preliminary research. It may or may not be a myth.
Sources
Am J Respir Crit Care Med. November 2007;176:1-6
http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/176/9/843
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
www.nichd.nih.gov
del.icio.us
Digg this
