Breast feeding

Why breast is best for babies

Breast milk is the only food naturally designed for your baby. It contains the nutrients your baby needs in the right amounts and they are in a form that is very easily absorbed. Its composition even changes as your baby grows.

• Breastfeeding helps to protect your baby from infection because antibodies are passed into the milk. Your baby will be less vulnerable to coughs and colds and other infections than bottle- fed babies. If you breastfeed for the first three to four months, this protection can last for up to a year.

• Breast milk is easily digested and absorbed and is less likely to cause stomach upsets or diarrhoea. It will also help to avoid constipation in your baby.
• Breastfed babies are less likely to get allergies like eczema, for example.
• Breast milk contains growth factors and hormones to assist your baby’s development.

Why breast is best for mothers

As one mother said, ‘It was feeling close, and being together, that was what I liked’, but there are other benefits too.

• Breast milk costs nothing.
• There’s no need to prepare feeds or wash and sterilise bottles.
• Your baby isn’t kept waiting for a feed.
• Breastfeeding helps your womb return to its normal size more quickly and, because it uses up calories, it will help you to lose some of the weight gained in pregnancy.
• It’s so much easier and more practical in the middle of the night.