Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility

I've come across some mothers who say breastfeeding is painful and stressful so they either do not breastfeed their babies or stop breastfeeding too early. Well, the above is reality but running away from breastfeeding is also not the answer.
You endanger yourself a lot if you don't breastfeed your baby.

Let's take a look at the following:

1.Why is breastfeeding important?
2. Negative effect of not breastfeeding.
3.How long should you breastfeed?

1.Why is breastfeeding important?
Breastfeeding is optimal for both mothers and babies. It can protect babies against infections and reduce the rates of later health problems like diabetes, obesity, and asthma. In breast milk, some various components/antibodies help in protecting babies against infection and disease. Those antibodies are present in high amounts in colostrum; the first milk that comes out of the breasts after birth.There are antibodies in breast milk the entire time a mother continues to breastfeed. Through these antibodies, the mother can pass on some protection from an infectious illness she had in the past, and those she gets while breastfeeding. Breast milk boosts the babies immune system a great deal.
For mothers, breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer and helps to generate a great bond with their babies. It also helps the uterus to contract and bleeding to cease more quickly after delivery.

2. Negative effects of not breastfeeding.
For infants, not being breastfed can cause an increased incidence of infectious morbidity, including otitis media, gastroenteritis, and pneumonia, as well as elevated risks of childhood obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, leukaemia, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Among premature infants, not receiving breast milk is associated with an increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
For mothers, failure to breastfeed is associated with an increased incidence of premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, retained gestational weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

3. How long should you breastfeed?
World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to 2 years of age or longer. Mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed their children for at least 1 year.

CALL TO ACTION!
Go back to breastfeeding and encourage others to do so.

~Obieke Chioma