Breastfeeding and natural childbirth produce healthier babies. The research indicates that the bacterial life in the infant’s gastrointestinal tract differs in infants born vaginally from that of infants arriving through cesarean deliveries, and a similar degree of difference shows up between the guts of exclusively breastfed infants and infants who exclusively eat formula or eat a combination of formula and breastmilk. This supports the recommendation of medical organizations to promote “exclusive breast milk feeding beginning at birth in hospitals and birthing centers and the avoidance of formula supplementation unless deemed medically necessary.” (JAMA Pediatrics. Published online January 11, 2016)
The scaling up of breastfeeding to a near universal level could prevent 823,000 annual deaths in children younger than 5 years, equivalent to 13% of all deaths in children under two, and 20,000 annual deaths from breast cancer. Women in high income countries have a shorter duration of breastfeeding compared to those women in low or middle income countries. Even in the latter, only 37% of children younger than 6 months of age are exclusively breastfed. I was glad to see that this study mentioned that breastfeeding improves birth spacing. Governments need to promote and support breastfeeding. The authors make it clear that breastfeeding is one of the most effective preventive health measures for children and mothers regardless of where they live. They clearly regret that it has been overlooked as a critical need for the health of the population. (The Lancet, Volume 387, No. 10017, p. 475-490, January 2016)
Breastfeeding protects very low weight infants. Breast milk was more effective than formula at improving the weight of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants. Feeding with formula increased the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis, invasive infection and morbidity among ELBW infants. Interestingly, 100% of the infants fed formula had infections. This study took place in Romania. (Singapore Medical Journal, January 6, 2016)
Breastfeeding has many health benefits, both in the short term and the longer term, to infants and their mothers. Infants’ cognitive development is improved by breastfeeding. The IQ is increased in infants who are breastfed for longer than six months by 3 to 5 points. Infants who are breastfed and mothers who breastfeed have lower rates of obesity. Long-term benefits to breastfeeding mothers include reduced rates of ovarian cancer, reduced pre-menopausal breast cancer, and reduced type 2 diabetes and heart disease. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health, January 28, 2016)
Breast milk is being studied in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. Scientists have converted a breast milk protein into an artificial virus that kills bacteria on contact. The protein, called lactoferrin, effectively kills bacteria, fungi and even viruses on contact. Scientists re-engineered it into a virus-like capsule that can recognize and target specific bacteria and damage them on contact, but without affecting any surrounding human cells. It is hopeful that this finding will lead to treating previously incurable diseases. (Chemical Science, January 15, 2016)
Sheila Kippley