1. The Basics Breast Milk
Breast milk is a biologically active substance that changes with each feeding to meet an infant's needs. You produce more breast milk in response to your baby's needs. An infant experiencing a growth spurt will nurse more often, causing your body to produce more breast milk. One important difference between breast milk and formula is that breast milk contains antibodies or immunities to germs and viruses with which your baby comes into contact. While your baby is nursing, you'll be exposed to the germs through your baby's saliva. The next time your baby nurses, your baby will receive immunities to those germs. Formula doesn't contain immunities.
2. What is Breast Milk?
To date, scientists have not been able to replicate breast milk in a laboratory setting. Currently, infant formula available on store shelves is based on cow's milk or soy milk. Until 50 years ago, breast milk was the standard for infant feeding. Breast milk is the optimum method of infant feeding and the biological norm, while infant formula is a static product that has several different health consequences. Formula doesn't "cause" illness, but babies who aren't breastfed have a higher risk of nearly every infectious disease and other diseases such as juvenile diabetes and certain cancers because of the protective immunities breast milk contains.
3. Breastfeeding Explained
A baby won't be "allergic" to your milk; however, a baby can be sensitive or allergic to foods that you eat, which he is exposed to through breast milk. Breast milk is easily digested and passes through a baby's digestive system very quickly. That's why breastfed babies need to eat more often than formula-fed babies. In order for a baby to get all the breast milk she needs, allow your baby to nurse on demand.
4. The Family-Friendly Workplace
Fortunately, the workplace is more family-friendly than it was 40 years ago when the women's liberation movement was just getting started. Many workplaces make good accommodations for new mothers returning to work from maternity leave. If you're returning to work while your baby is still an infant, purchase or rent a hospital-grade double electric pump so that you can pump breast milk that your baby's caregiver can feed in your absence. A breast pump is also indispensable if your baby needs to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit after birth.
5. Breastfeeding Alternatives
If you're not able to breastfeed because you're taking certain medications that aren't compatible with breastfeeding, ask your doctor about possible alternatives. If you're not able to breastfeed due to serious health conditions and your baby is experiencing certain medical conditions, your baby's doctor might order breast milk from a milk bank. Infant formula is the next option to consider, followed by soy formula.
