The science behind breast-feeding is lacking
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By now, you’ve likely heard that breast-feeding is good. Women hear the mantra “breast is best” practically from the moment they conceive — both the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend exclusively breast-feeding babies for six months. With this kind of endorsement, which any nursing mother will tell you requires a mammoth commitment, you would think we know everything there is to know about the practice.
In reality, we don’t. We aren’t even close.
Breast-feeding is perhaps the oldest human activity that we know the least about. Scientists know more about what’s in a tomato than what’s in human milk, according to Katie Hinde , a lactation researcher and associate professor at Arizona State University. (And we know twice as much about erectile dysfunction.) We have yet to discover the full catalogue of breast milk’s ingredients, how they get there and what babies do with them. Most lactation research is dietary, but nursing is an intricate and complicated function. Science barely understands it, much less the doctors and nurses who are supposed to aid new mothers — who are often overwhelmed by breast-feeding struggles and left to fend for themselves. Eight out of 10 parents believe breast-feeding troubles contribute to postpartum depression in new moms, according to a recent survey . No wonder 60 percent of women don’t meet their own breast-feeding goals .
Science has uncovered far more about breast-feeding’s advantages for babies than it has about its benefits and challenges for moms. Studies have tied breast-feeding to postpartum weight loss, protection against some cancers and, most recently, Type 2 diabetes prevention. There are hormonal rewards, likes oxytocin boosts. But milk supply remains a mystery — there is no clear answer to why some women produce too little milk while others make so much that it causes them extreme pain. It’s not obvious who is most at risk for agonizing breast-feeding-related infections that can impede nursing, like MRSA, mastitis or thrush. Drugs that increase milk supply are imperfect and under-prescribed. Women with oversupply are told to apply cabbage leaves and hot compresses, or to ingest herbal supplements, as if they have given birth in Westeros or an ancient civilization, not the United States in 2018. The answers to these questions matter if we’re ever to fully understand breast-feeding and ensure that women who want to can.
We don’t even use the right words to describe what actually happens during nursing: a baby’s milk drawing is still called “sucking,” but, as biomechanist Katy Bowman explains, it’s actually a complex series of movements that includes compression and creating a vacuum. When a baby extracts milk from a breast, she’s shaping her jaw, bite and facial muscles, which affect chewing, breathing and swallowing, Bowman says.
Why has the lightning pace of technology and scientific discovery left breast-feeding behind? Lactation biology is not new, having emerged in the late 1800s . Yet funding priorities for research lie elsewhere today. The gender of the majority of legislators appropriating research dollars may shed some light. “The fact that we don’t have this thing can only be attributed to the fact that people do not perceive it as being necessary,” Hinde told me. The existence of formula suggests that we have the recipe for an exact copy of breast milk, but we don’t. Noel Mueller, an assistant professor of epidemiology who studies the contents of human milk at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health says, “The evidence is still mixed as to whether or not formula can be a substitute for human breast milk and give the same type of nutrition to infants.”
It might not matter much to a new mom if she can’t find a detailed medical study of the contents of breast milk. But it matters a great deal if she can’t properly breast-feed her baby, and science shrugs its shoulders. Breast-feeding is assumed to be easy because it’s “natural,” but it can be downright Sisyphean for some moms, due to factors like milk supply, nipple and breast shape and size, and infant’s ability to latch on to the breast. The Internet is rife with stories of breast-feeding woes and message boards where desperate moms seek help. One pediatrician, who says she spent hours advising parents to breast-feed, wrote in this essay that she expected breast-feeding to be a cinch when she had her own child. The reality was far different.
Nursing is physically, emotionally and psychologically consuming, even to women for whom it comes “easy.” The intense pressure to breast-feed combined with the lack of support can put mothers in an impossible situation; nursing difficulties can become a life-or-death matter for women experiencing postpartum depression, which affects up to 1 in 7 . And when women struggle with breast-feeding, the medical system often fails them.
Health systems are more likely to thwart the establishment and practice of breast-feeding than to teach it. “The vast majority of hospital staff members can’t provide the education about how to breast-feed just after birth that so many women want, so instead, women receive conflicting advice or none at all,” wrote Malika Shah , an assistant professor at Northwestern University who specializes in breast-feeding medicine.
Only 23 percent of U.S. births take place in "baby-friendly" certified hospitals, meaning they encourage nursing by allowing mothers and newborns to stay together immediately after birth to establish breast-feeding. Breast-feeding can be forestalled in these places, too. They prioritize practices like “rooming in,” “skin-to-skin” contact and avoiding formula, but labor and delivery nurses who care for women aren’t typically trained lactation specialists with expertise to troubleshoot specific problems. About half a dozen women have told me they received little to no feeding help after delivery in baby-friendly hospitals, and that was my own experience twice. Some hospitals employ enough certified lactation specialists, but they don’t work around the clock, and often there aren’t enough of them to meet postpartum women’s needs.
Who picks up the slack? Enter the field of private lactation consultants who exist outside the medical system, and often aren’t covered by insurance. They know far more about how to establish and correct breast-feeding than hospital staff, and play a vital and uninhabited role in teaching women to breast-feed. Lactation consultants can be godsends, but they are not part of routine postpartum care and can be prohibitively expensive for many women.
Jada Shapiro, a lactation counselor and the founder of Boober , an on-demand breast-feeding support service in Brooklyn, says she is contacted by four to seven women each day who need more breast-feeding guidance than they received in their hospital. “What I see the most is that women are told they don’t have enough milk,” Shapiro says.
She explains that women are alarmed by colostrum , the first milk they produce, because it doesn’t seem like much. In fact, that’s all a newborn needs for the first few days until the breast and nipple are stimulated enough for more breast milk to be produced. Hospitals still whisk newborns off to the nursery and give them formula, a practice that Shapiro says interferes with the establishment of milk supply. “What is done in the hospital to mothers is completely counterintuitive to how breast-feeding works,” she says.
Misunderstandings like these are not new. Mainstream medicine has historically paid little attention to breast-feeding. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists first formally recommended that breast-feeding be part of their practices only in 2016. Hinde points out that hospitals standardize the assessment and diagnosis for major organs, but not for the mammary glands and milk production. The standard postpartum protocol — one visit more than a month after hospital discharge — is insufficient on many levels, but it’s definitely too late to help a new mother figure out how breast-feeding works.
While research on human lactation and breast-feeding is far from a priority of any significance, much more has been conducted in the past decade, spurring more questions and highlighting what we don’t know. In 2015, for instance, researchers identified that the specific interaction between human milk and baby saliva creates hydrogen peroxide, which kills bacteria. New initiatives, like Rush Mothers’ Milk Club in Chicago, are trying to increase human milk feeding for NICU newborns, and asking whether human milk could be matched to a baby the way we match blood based on blood type. That this all sounds like science fiction reveals how much we have to learn.
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Science has uncovered far more about breast-feeding’s advantages for babies than it has about its benefits and challenges for moms.
E.A Yes Many many medical studies have shown that Milk from Cow/Goats etc have some components /Compounds that are specific Value to that Species, and that the Nipples in the Mother are actually " Paediatrician " in that they convey to the Mother what the BABY needs at THAT time and not a year in advance or in the part as might be even with " Expressed Human Milk " while that might be better then the Milk of Other Species " Best is Fresh " and from the MOTHER!
E.A::
Breast-Feeding Is Good for the Mother, and Not Just the Baby
Women who breast-feed are less likely to develop breast cancer, ovarian cancer, Type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis and may have improved cardiovascular health.
Stuart Bradford
"
While companies market infant formula by claiming their products are effective substitutes for breast milk, Dr. Ramaswamy said, “formula is not going to help women live longer and be there for their families.”
The new study surveyed 724 women aged 18 to 50 who had given birth to at least one child. The vast majority of them had breast-fed.
Just over half knew before they gave birth that breast-feeding reduced the risk of breast cancer, and over a third of those said the information influenced their decision to breast-feed.
But only 120 of the women said that their health care providers had informed them about the implications for their own long-term health. Most of those who knew about the health advantages to nursing moms had gleaned the information from popular media or the internet. And these women tended to breast-feed for much longer — 13 months on average — than women who did not know about the health "
Bold and Colour Added by E.A
And a Thank YOU to PJ for seeding these Very Informative and may I say CRITICAL Medical/Health Article!!
Many Thanks!
As to the Religious that think " Science Knows it all " ::
"
Scientists do not entirely understand why lactation helps prevent breast cancer, but say the breasts undergo changes during pregnancy as they develop more milk ducts in preparation for breast-feeding.
The breasts eventually go through a process called involution that returns them to their pre-pregnancy state and involves massive cell death and tissue remodeling. That transition can occur slowly through gradual weaning, or abruptly if there is no breast-feeding or only brief breast-feeding. When it happens abruptly, it creates an inflammatory condition that is conducive to cancer, Dr. Ramaswamy said.
Dr. Marisa Weiss, the founder of the website BreastCancer.org, who has done research in this area, often describes pregnancy and lactation as a “bat mitzvah” for the breasts, saying that breast-feeding “forces the breasts to finally grow up and get a job, and make milk, and show up for work every day, and stop fooling around.” That maturation process triggers changes in the milk ducts that make the breast more resistant to cancer. "
Keturah Redmond, with her 3-month-old son, Karson, had hoped to breast-feed after giving birth to her first child in 2012, but experienced several setbacks. This time, it’s different.
Credit
Credit
Kevin D. Liles for The New York Times
By Shannon Shelton Miller
Aug. 17, 2017
There are classes that soon to be mothers can take that will go over how the body is changing and to discuss a variety of issues with pregnant women. There is a lot of information out there if people look.
E.A If only MEDIA and Chat Sites would ALLOW " Free and Truthful Dialogs ", right?
And lets not forget the " Clock " that starts ticking at Pregnancy, and how that is controlled and reset at Birth!
" Breast-feeding also appears to reset the body’s metabolism after pregnancy, improving glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity, burning calories and mobilizing stores of fat that have accumulated during pregnancy, which may explain why women who breast-fed have lower rates of diabetes and other problems."
E.A SKIN Contact is also Critical!! Who would have thought THAT right!!
Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the feeding of babies and young children with milk from a woman's breast.[1] Health professionals recommend that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of a baby's life and continue as often and as much as the baby wants.[2][3] During the first few weeks of life babies may nurse roughly every two to three hours and the duration of a feeding is usually ten to fifteen minutes on each breast.[4] Older children feed less often.[5] Mothers may pump milk so that it can be used later when breastfeeding is not possible.[1] Breastfeeding has a number of benefits to both mother and baby, which infant formula lacks.[3][6]
E.A "
It's also one that's likely to draw strong opinions from friends and family.
Many medical experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, strongly recommend breastfeeding exclusively (no formula, juice, or water) for 6 months. And breastfeeding for a year at least with other foods which should be started at 6 months of age, such as vegetables, grains, fruits, proteins.
But you and your baby are unique, and the decision is up to you. This overview of breastfeeding can help you decide.
What Are the Benefits of Breastfeeding for Your Baby?
Breast milk provides the ideal nutrition for infants. It has a nearly perfect mix of vitamins, protein, and fat -- everything your baby needs to grow. And it's all provided in a form more easily digested than infant formula. Breast milk contains antibodies that help your baby fight off viruses and bacteria. Breastfeeding lowers your baby's risk of having asthma or allergies. Plus, babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhea. They also have fewer hospitalizations and trips to the doctor.
Breastfeeding has been linked to higher IQ scores in later childhood in some studies. What's more, the physical closeness, skin-to-skin touching, and eye contact all help your baby bond with you and feel secure. Breastfed infants are more likely to gain the right amount of weight as they grow rather than become overweight children. The AAP says breastfeeding also plays a role in the prevention of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). It's been thought to lower the risk of diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers as well, but more research is needed.
Are There Breastfeeding Benefits for the Mother?
Breastfeeding burns extra calories, so it can help you lose pregnancy weight faster. It releases the hormone oxytocin, which helps your uterus return to its pre-pregnancy size and may reduce uterine bleeding after birth. Breastfeeding also lowers your risk of breast and ovarian cancer. It may lower your risk of osteoporosis, too.
Since you don't have to buy and measure formula, sterilize nipples, or warm bottles, it saves you time and money. It also gives you regular time to relax quietly with your newborn as you bond. "
What are the thought on " feeding on demand " and not on a set schedule?
After all I doubt that the Babies Metabolism is set on some Human Made Clock, right?
When they are infants they should be fed whenever they are hungry. What's helpful these days are all the gadgets that are available that will help mothers pump their milk and refrigerate it so the dad's can help feed the babies.
E.A Yes, and a Medical reason for that could well be rooted in Chemistry ie::
The Babies Metabolism informs Mother through Nipple that it needs " X " with a Little ABC added " it then begins to manufacture the ENZYMES to deal with the " Ordered and Expected Delivery " this days its called " Just in Time Manufacturing " :-)
So the Babies enzymes technical exist only for a given time frame and then they change, so if the Delivery is Late or Different, that can cause " Manufacturing Problems " in Vernacular COLIC :-)
NO one can EVER Argue " Breast is Best " and In Species and ON Time!
LOL! I'll never argue with that EA! Lol...
E.A ::
Breast changes
A woman's breasts increase in size and fullness during pregnancy. As the due date approaches, hormone changes will cause your breasts to get even bigger to prepare for breastfeeding. Your breasts may feel full, heavy, or tender.
In the third trimester, some pregnant women begin to leak colostrum from their breasts. Colostrum is the first milk that your breasts produce for the baby. It is a thick, yellowish fluid containing antibodies that protect newborns from infection.
What might help:
Tell your doctor if you feel a lump or have nipple changes or discharge (that is not colostrum) or skin changes.
At the hospital where I delivered, every single labor and delivery nurse was also a lactation consultant.
A worthy goal nationwide, IMO.
E.A A Question::
Did they Hand out the " Nestles Baby Welcoming Gift "?
What was inclusive in that " Box " and where Mothers encourage to use Bottle feeding by the Nursing staff, if the Baby had some troubles " attaching "?
Nursing was encouraged. Bottle feeding was not. There were a few samples of powder formula.
E.A So the Mothers were not Given Free Bottles with a Box of Formula and other " goodies "?
No. No bottles at all. A handful of single-serving pouches of powdered formula. A few diapers, a receiving blanket, baby shampoo, and A&D ointment because he'd "overcooked" and his skin was scaly. And that's all I remember.
E.A OK thank You, I remember a Lot different, it be interesting to have a few more " remember time " comments because I can do a search and Flood this seed of all the " free Goodies " mothers were Given and the Psychology behind those so called " Humanitarian Acts " Few if ANY Large Corporation are in any way of form " Humanitarian " IMHO!
E.A If I may::
Some as it is to be expected first time mothers had " hard/Cracked Nipples " and what was common was to give them an " Sheep Wool Extract " to rub on the Nipple :-) Now Imagine you are an Infant, you know the Mothers Smell and Sound, you know every Fibber of that Mother ( Genetic Imprint see DNA ), and all of a Sudden you have stuck in your nose and mouth a product " from sheep wool " how would YOU react?
Stop that talk now, EA, it's getting me excited!
Have you been hanging around the retirement homes:)
So PJ shall we start another thread, about " Clock Starting a chemical change " so that the Womans body now undergoes amazing changes to accept a new lifeform within her?
E.A Any and All Questions accepted!
Well I must say, all the babies certainly do look quite happy.
E.A Life starts as a " Paradise " we can make into ,,,,,
Appreciating that " Electrochemical Changes " will affect anything we know that exists, from living to nonliving, how much more need WE get to know how those influences can cause Strain to " The one we LOVE "?
A woman's emotional well-being and her mental outlook can also play important roles in pregnancy.
Credit: Tyler Olson | Shutterstock
Mood Swings & Mommy Brain: The Emotional Challenges of Pregnancy
By Cari Nierenberg, Live Science Contributor
| December 21, 2017 07:57pm ET
E.A Little wonder why it is widely reported " one can NEVER get to know a Woman " !!
E.A::
"The physical changes in a woman's body during pregnancy receive plenty of attention, but less consideration is given to the emotional changes she could be experiencing.
In addition to her physical health, a woman's emotional well being and her mental outlook can also play important roles in pregnancy.
During the nine months, a woman's moods and emotions can range from the highs of feeling overjoyed and excited about having a baby to the lows of feeling impatient and scared as the delivery and motherhood approaches.
Pregnancy can also bring up other emotionally charged issues, such as difficult family relationships, insecurities and unrealistic expectations, which may have previously been suppressed or ignored. In many ways it's helpful that a woman and her partner have almost a year to adjust to the realities of becoming parents.
"Pregnancy is a huge transition in a woman's life, and it involves a complex mix of emotions, both good and bad," said Dr. Mary Kimmel, medical director of the Perinatal Psychiatry Inpatient Unit and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.
Pregnancy is a unique time period for a number of reasons, she explained.
"At a biological level, the hormones estrogen and progesterone are ramping up," Kimmel said. Some women are more sensitive to changes in progesterone, and this may make them more irritable, she noted.
Kimmel, who specializes in women's mood disorders, said there are a lot of issues a mothers-to-be must work through both psychologically and socially. These issues may include: What will a baby mean for my life going forward? How will a child affect my relationships, and will I have support from my partner and family members once the baby arrives? Will I be a good mother, and how will I handle my new responsibilities?
There are also practical concerns associated with bringing a new life into this world, such as being prepared financially for an addition to the family or living on one income, if a woman decides not to work outside the home. "
PJ Why ohh WHY have YOU abandoned ME??/?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hp44eaK8Lc
PJ threatened to leave us all yesterday, EA, over the excessive censorship on this site.
E.A see here https://thenewstalkers.com/eagle-averro/blog/1350/big-bang-vs-creation not only censorship, but a complete removal of a Blog Post, talk about Fascism!
'Remarkable' decline in fertility rates
By James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News
Which countries are affected?
More economically developed countries including most of Europe, the US, South Korea and Australia have lower fertility rates.
It does not mean the number of people living in these countries is falling, at least not yet as the size of a population is a mix of the fertility rate, death rate and migration.
It can also take a generation for changes in fertility rate to take hold.
But Prof Murray said: "We will soon be transitioning to a point where societies are grappling with a declining population."
Half the world's nations are still producing enough children to grow, but as more countries advance economically, more will have lower fertility
rates.
Why so many try to pretend that the " Biological Clock " does NOT exist?
She said that when she was around 34 years old, she realized that "the biological clock is real" and that "egg production is limited", which made her decide to seek in-vitro fertilisation.
"I think it's the worst thing that we do to each other as women, not share the truth about our bodies and how they work," Mrs Obama told ABC's Robin Roberts on Good Morning America.