Natural Family Planning International

In accord with the intent of World Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 1-7, 2007) to draw attention to the importance and values of breastfeeding, I submit the following:

“Probably no formula – no artificial baby food – EVER WILL MATCH THE BENEFITS OF HUMAN MILK whose nutritional and immunological benefits are marvelous and unique.” W. D. Virtue, Mother and Infant, 239.

Recent Breastfeeding Research

Breastfeeding is best. No doubt about it. As parents, we should all agree that we want to do what is best for our children. After childbirth, that choice is easy. We can do all we can to breastfeed within our capabilities.

Recent research has greatly stimulated interest in promoting breastfeeding, especially among health authorities. Today’s blog calls attention to some recent studies.

Children who are breastfed will more likely have better vision than those who are formula-fed. This study supports the growing body of evidence suggesting that breastfeeding is beneficial for visual development, according to Dr. Atul Singhal. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2007)

A three-month blitz of a “babies are born to be breastfed” campaign occurred in upstate New York using billboards, posters, and public service announcements during popular TV shows. The campaign was a success by raising the approval rating of public nursing from 54% to 69% among women and from 35% to 46% among men. (Herkimer County, N.Y., June 2007)

Breastfeeding initiation may be more successful when a mother lies flat or semi-reclined on her back with baby on her tummy. The babies nursed better when mothers used whatever position was comfortable and tried various positions, if needed. (Royal College of Nursing Conference, Dr. Suzanne Colson, May 2007)

Breastfeeding protects women from breast cancer, even those women who have children later in life. Dr. Giske Ursin, MD, PhD, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, said, “Our most important finding here is that breastfeeding seems to modify the increased risk that comes from having children later in life.” Thus she added, “We believe that breastfeeding should be encouraged for all women.” (American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, April 16, 2007)

Breastfeeding protects against the incidence or severity of a childhood sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) which affects 3% of children. (SLEEP 2007, 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, June 11, 2007)

In developing countries, instructing HIV-infected mothers to breastfeed would result in 300,000 children becoming infected with HIV, but would save 1.5 million babies from death due to other diseases. There is a six-fold relative risk of death from infectious diseases in babies fed formula compared to those exclusively breastfed. In a 4-year study in South Africa, 4% of babies who were exclusively breastfed contracted HIV. (14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, February 26, 2007)
[IMPORTANT: The website for correct information about breastfeeding and HIV/AIDS is www.AnotherLook.org.]

Breastfeeding for 13 months or longer reduces the mother’s risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that affects three times more women than men. The longer a mother breastfed, the lower her risk of developing RA later in life. (Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, Barcelona, June 15, 2007)
[IMPORTANT: To be able to breastfeed for 13 months or longer, a woman should consider a form of breastfeeding similar to eco-breastfeeding.]

“Research in developed and developing countries of the world, including middle-class populations in developed countries, provides strong evidence that human milk feeding decreased the incidence and/or severity of a wide range of infectious diseases including bacterial meningitis, bacteremia, diarrhea, respiratory tract infection, necrotizing enterocolitis, otitis media, urinary tract infection, and late-onset sepsis in preterm infants In addition, postneonatal infant mortality rates in the United States are reduced by 21% in breastfed infants.” (Special Report from ACOG: “Breastfeeding: Maternal and Infant Aspects,” ACOG Clinical Review, January-February 2007)

Message: All mothers should strive to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of life.

Sheila Kippley
NFP International
www.NFPandMore.org
Author: Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood (Sophia, 2005)
Natural Family Planning: The Question-Answer Book (e-book
at this website, 2005)

In accord with the intent of World Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 1-7, 2007) to draw attention to the importance and values of breastfeeding, I submit the following:

“The most suitable milk for an infant is that of his own mother.” W. D. Virtue, Mother and Infant, 1995, 238-9.

There is more evidence that breastfeeding IS excellent for baby’s health LATER IN LIFE. Breastfeeding has long-term benefits.
Research has already confirmed that breastfeeding provides clear short-term benefits to the child against morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. However, there is a continuing debate regarding the long-term benefits of breastfeeding.To determine the long-term consequences of breastfeeding, the World Health Organization commissioned two independent studies in Switzerland and in Brazil. Breastfeeding studies restricted to “infant” outcomes were excluded.

Those persons who had been breastfed were more likely to experience the following benefits: a lower mean blood pressure and total cholesterol, a higher performance in intelligence tests, and a lower prevalence of overweight/obesity and type-2 diabetes.

Click here to download the report.
The message today is: Please breastfeed your baby for his benefit. The benefits from breastfeeding will last for years to come.

Sheila Kippley
NFP International
www.NFPandMore.org
Author: Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood (Sophia, 2005)
Natural Family Planning: The Question-Answer Book (e-book
at this website, 2005)

In accord with the intent of World Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 1-7, 2007) to draw attention to the importance and values of breastfeeding, I submit the following:

“Mother’s milk is the normative food for her infant.” W. D. Virtue, Mother and Infant, 1995, 238.

In ANY Developed Country Breastfeeding IS BEST for Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes.

New Evidence Reported on Breastfeeding in 2007
In 2007, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported that breastfeeding decreases infants’ and mothers’ risks of having many short-term and chronic diseases in developed countries. This is a particularly important piece of work as it reviews only those studies carried out in the developed world. Thus this study adds weight to the arguments that breastfeeding is vitally important for healthy outcomes, even in countries like the United States.

Here is what the study found:
Infants who were breastfed had a
–reduced risk of ear infections by up to 50%
–reduced risk of serious lower respiratory tract infections by 72%
–reduced risk of skin rash similar to eczema by 42%
–reduced risk of type 1 diabetes by about 20%, and a
–reduced risk of type 2 diabetes by 39%.

Children with a family history of asthma who had been breastfed were 40% less likely to have asthma, and children not prone to asthma had a 27% reduced risk compared to those children who had not been breastfed.

With breastfeeding there were “fewer episodes of diarrhea during infancy, decreased incidence of childhood leukemia, and decreased deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).” Premature infants had a decreased occurrence of necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious gastrointestinal infection that often results in death.

Mothers who breastfed their infant had good health outcomes for themselves:
–a 12% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes for each year they breastfed
–a 21% reduced risk of ovarian cancer
–a 28% reduced risk of breast cancer for lifetime duration of breastfeeding for 12 months or longer, and
–a reduced risk of postpartum depression.

A lactation consultant, lecturer, and author who is up on the latest breastfeeding studies has this to say about this particular research: “This report is stunningly important, solidly reinforcing the importance and normality of exclusive breastfeeding for the healthy, safe and normal development of the infant. This is by far the most comprehensive and rigorous analysis published to date, and should be required reading for all health care professionals and policy-makers.” (Linda Smith, www.BFLRC.com)

This report was nominated and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health.
To access Breastfeeding and Maternal and Infant Outcomes in Developed Countries,
go to: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/tp/brfouttp.htm.

Thus the message is this: Nurse your baby frequently day and night, do exclusive breastfeeding, and stay close to your baby in order to breastfeed successfully.

Sheila Kippley
NFP International
www.NFPandMore.org
Author: Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood (Sophia, 2005)
Natural Family Planning: The Question-Answer Book (e-book
at this website, 2005)