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    Ironically, when formula manufacturers (Infant formula is a $73 billion industry) offered to supply developing nations with formula, it became apparent the babies fed on formula in the cities were sick more often, slower in school and tended to be obese w

August is National Breastfeeding Month

Years of research and observation have left no doubt among the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals around the world and public health departments across the country:

Babies who are placed, skinto-skin with their mothers immediately after birth and breastfed within an hour after birth get off to a healthier start than in the old days, when babies were hurried out of the delivery room and would be brought to moms the next day, ready to be fed with a free bottle of formula.

Ironically, when formula manufacturers (Infant formula is a $73 billion industry) offered to supply developing nations with formula, it became apparent the babies fed on formula in the cities were sick more often, slower in school and tended to be obese when compared to breastfed babies in rural areas.

The third-world mothers sent a message, loudly and clearly, to the World Health Organization: “We will breastfeed. Don’t send us your formula.”

Understandably, more mothers breastfeeding their infants has slowed formula sales around the world. This growing trend is impacting dairy farmers’ bottom lines as well as profitability of manufacturers.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, breastfed babies should be fed mother’s milk exclusively for the first six months of life, introducing various foods after that. Most pediatricians encourage mothers to continue breastfeeding for at least the first year.

“When you think about it, breastfeeding is healthier, not just because of the mother’s milk but when a mother breast feeds her baby, it’s held close and hears the mom’s heart beating, which is calming. Holding the baby during feedings also builds a healthy bond between mother and child while the milk supplies protective qualities and the motherchild interaction builds early language and reinforces social aspects, like smiling back when the mom smiles,” said Barbara Kalmen, an RN for the past 43 years and an International Board-Certified Lactation Specialist since 2006.

“In the early days and months of life, a baby’s brain grows so much – and this includes brain tissue as well as the synapses that comprise the nervous system,” Kalmen continued. “Breast milk contains unique substances that encourage this growth.”

Lactation consultants, usually on staff at hospitals or community clinics are made available to help mothers and babies become successful with breastfeeding.

Texas Ten-Step, a coalition of the State Health Department, Texas Hospital Association, birthing centers and healthcare providers, work together to improve healthcare for women and children with the desired outcomes of healthier prenatal and post-partum moms and healthier babies for the rest of their lives.

Baby-friendly hospitals affiliated with Texas Ten Step (25 percent of Texas hospitals) report a good success rate in the initiation of breastfeeding:

1. It makes bonding easier

2. Having the healthy newborn, skin-to-skin with mother immediately after birth is considered desirable.

3. Improvement of baby’s health – human milk boosts a baby’s immune system—helping baby fight viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections, including: respiratory tract infections, ear infections, bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, infant diarrhea and common colds and flus.

4. Breastfeeding can actually reduce baby’s risk of disease later in life, including: Type I and II diabetes, Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, asthma and eczema.

The Texas Ten Step Program (texastenstep.org) also works with employers and workplaces to make them more baby-friendly by helping them provide privacy for breastfeeding moms. “It is to the employer’s advantage to provide new moms time to express and store their milk because that time will be miniscule compared to moms unable to breastfeed because, in the future, their child will be sick more often and the mom-employee will have to take more time off,” said Amy Willa, IBCLC and project manager of Healthy Living Matters.

In Texas – ranking 8th in the U.S. for child obesity -- one in three children are obese. Only 9 percent of 12th grade boys and girls could pass fitness tests in 2014. Nationwide, nearly 33 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese, 16.3 percent (one in six) of children and adolescents are obese, and 11.3 percent are very obese.

“Obviously, a very sick baby cannot be breastfed,” Kalmen said, “but now many hospitals have mother’s milk banks, where nursing moms express excess milk and donate it for moms unable to produce breast milk to feed their babies.

“We are hoping National Breastfeeding Month will create awareness, so people will educate themselves about the benefits of breastfeeding and will provide more support and encourage pregnant moms who want their babies to be healthier, happier, stronger and smarter, thanks to breastfeeding at least the first six months of life,” Kalmen said.

Facts about breastfeeding

1. The World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommend infants be fed breast milk exclusively for six months after birth.

2. Breastfeeding is not only a lifestyle choice but is a public health imperative.

3. Breastfeeding gives every baby a healthy start in life.

4. WHO researchers report significantly higher intellectual scores in breastfed babies compared with formula-fed infants at one year.

5. The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend: (a) early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth; (b) exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life; and (c) introduction of nutritionally-adequate and safe complementary (solid) foods at 6 months together with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond.

6. Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival.

7. If breastfeeding were scaled up to near universal levels, about 820,000 child lives would be saved every year.

8. Globally, only 40 percent of infants under six months of age are exclusively breastfed.

9. Only 19 percent of American babies are exclusively breastfed the first six months of life.

10. Breastfeeding saves a family approximately $2 to 4 thousand dollars annually (compared to cost of formula).

Dripping Springs Century-News

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Dripping Springs, Texas 78620

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