Breastfeeding Saves Children’s Lives.

Breastfeeding Saves Children’s Lives.

From the British Medical Journal is a news story that states, "Breastfeeding could save lives". According to findings presented at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, children who are not breast fed seem to have weaker immune systems and, therefore, are at a greater risk of infection and death. The numbers are alarming. Of the 12 million children under 5 years of age who die each year, a full 1.5 million could have been saved had they been breast-fed.

Breastfeeding even has benefits for the mother’s health. The March 17^th, 1999 Reuters Health reported on a study presented at the American Psychosomatic Society annual meeting. There has been noticed a breastfeeding hormone, oxytin that helps lower the mother’s blood pressure. Studies confirmed the greater presence of this hormone in mothers who were breastfeeding. The presence of the hormone oxytin correlated directly with the mothers who had lower blood pressure.

Children also receive benefit from breastfeeding simply by avoiding cow’s-milk. In the October 15^th, 1998 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine appears an article discussing chronic constipation linked to infants and children with intolerance to cow’s milk. In addition, intolerance to cow’s milk was also linked to diarrhea, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and eczema. I guess the bottom line is, when it comes to babies, "Mother’s milk, it does their body good!"