The Most Awaited Moment Is Here! A Mother And A Baby Rejoined Skin To Skin.

To Give The First Food: Mother’s Milk. The vital part of motherhood is breastfeeding, keep reading to find out how breastfeeding benefits both Mother and Babies.

The WHO (World Health Organisation) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recommends new mothers to initiate breastfeeding within one hour of giving birth, then breastfeed their infants for the first six months of life, and continue breastfeeding up to the age of 2 years and beyond.

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Breastfeeding benefits for the baby:

  • The ideal nutrition for babies: The ideal nutrition for babiesis provided through breast milk. Breast milk has a high amount of live cells such as immune-boosting white blood cells, proteins, amino acids, oligosaccharides (good bacteria), vitamins, minerals, and antibodies.

    There are different stages of breast milk tailored to your baby. Initially, the first milk known as colostrum is produced right after giving birth. Colostrum helps to develop immunity, increases muscle growth, and prevent infections. It is rich in bioactive compounds, live cells, and antioxidants to keep the baby healthy. Secondly, from colostrum it changes to transitional milk, the milk becomes thicker and creamer making your breasts heavier, showing signs that the milk is flowing gradually. It’s still rich in nutrients just as before. Finally, after four weeks, the milk becomes mature, hence mature milk .It’s rich in hormones, growth factors, enzymes, and live cells.
  • Improves immunity and health: Breastfeeding your baby helps in improving the immunity and prevents colds, viral fevers, pneumonia. Breastfeeding helps to improve the health of a sick baby. Apparently, it’s soothing and nourishing for the baby when in pain or sickness.
  •  Lowers the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SID): SID’s occur during sleep, an unexplained death. Also known as crib death, SID’s can affect infants less than a year.  Breastfeeding your baby for at least six months can help to reduce the risk of SID.
  • Decreases risk of diseases: Breastfeeding for at least six months helps in preventing cancers at early stages, diarrhoea, diabetes, obesity. Overall, breastfeeding can improve the overall IQ of the baby and helps in less hospitalisation of the baby.

Breastfeeding benefits for the mother:

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First of all, great job on bringing a wonderful human to this world. It’s not easy, but definitely worth it.

  • Lose those calories! : Breastfeeding helps in reducing calories therefore diminishing that pregnancy weight.
    Have you ever thought of how much calories the body needs to burn to produce milk, for approximately 20-30 ounces of milk, the body will need to burn 500-600 calories.  
    Alternatively, no worries about losing that baby weight!
  • Increases healing:  Breastfeeding mothers recover from childbirth faster and easily. The hormone oxytocin produced during breastfeeding reduces postpartum bleeding and helps the uterus to get back to its natural size.
  • Prevent diseases: Mothers who breastfeed are said to have low chances of cancer, diabetes and arthritis.
  • Emotional bonding: Breastfeeding is a fulfilling and emotional bond between you and your baby. It’s like a grand finale for your birth process. Breastfeeding enhances the bond between you and your baby emotionally and nutritionally. The happy hormones such as prolactin and oxytocin help to relax the mother and the baby, creating a sense of fulfilment and joy to the mother and the baby.
  • Hassle-free and Saves Money: Save money on formulas, bottle warmers, bottles and pacifiers. No need to wake up in the middle of the night in search of bottles, formulas etc. Therefore, its hassle free and helps to save up a lot of money in the first six months.

In short, breastfeeding has numerous benefits for both the mother and the baby. Breastfeeding completes the maternal bonding between a mother and a child. It helps to create a distinctive physical bond and an unforgettable emotional connection.
So, why settle for less when the mother offers the best?

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