By,
Rochelle Lukehart RNC, IBCLC (San Joaquin Community Hospital)
Rochelle Lukehart RNC, IBCLC (San Joaquin Community Hospital)
There has
been a resurgence of public awareness in the past 15 years of the benefits of
exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends it in their policy
statement from 2012. They state in the policy that exclusive breastfeeding is
the normal standard of infant feeding and nutrition. They state that there is documentation of the
long and short term health and development benefits for the infant. It is also stated that breastfeeding should
be considered a public health issue and recommend exclusive breastfeeding for 6
months and continuing breastfeeding with complementary foods for 1 year and
beyond.
A recent La Leche League publication on the “Gold Standard” of infant feeding restates the AAP recommendation,
Babies grow and develop best when exclusively breastfed for six months. Continued breastfeeding with complementary feeding after six months is also important to infant and toddler health. The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages breastfeeding until at least a year with complementary foods after six months, and thereafter, as long as mutually desired. The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend that breastfeeding should continue after six months with appropriate complementary foods up to two years or beyond.
Interestingly the awareness of benefits of breastfeeding has a long history. In the eighteen century it was viewed differently. The following is an excerpt from Nature's Body: Gender in the Making of Modern Science by Londa Schiebinger,
Mother's milk was considered a miracle fluid which could cure people and give wisdom. The mythical figure Philosophia-Sapientia, the personification of wisdom, suckled philosophers at her breast and by this way they absorbed wisdom and moral virtue.
Pictured below is the “Ten Reasons Why A Mother Should Nurse Her Baby” as written by the New York Bureau of Child Hygiene in 1914. The modern ten reasons may differ from the ones written in 1914 in many ways, however, reason #4 on the list should be considered as a fact today as well. Reason #5 is also true though the food safety now may be better, artificial baby milk is now and never will be equal to breast milk. There is a misconception in today’s society that breast milk is equal to infant formula, but that is simply not the case. We knew it in 1914, and that has not changed. Breast milk is still far superior to artificial formula.
Breastfeeding
is not always simple and easy at the beginning; many moms need to have
assistance. Help for breastfeeding in Kern
County can be found in many ways; here are a few:
International
Lactation Consultant Association: Ilca.org
San Joaquin
Community Hospital: (661)869-6438
Clinica
Sierra Vista WIC: (661) 862-5422
CAPK WIC:
(661) 327-3074
References:
Schiebinger,
Londa (1993). Nature's Body. Gender in the Making of Modern Science.
Boston: Beacon Press. page 60
AAP policy:
Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk
La Leche
League Media release 2004: Exclusive Breastfeeding: The Gold Standard to be the
Theme of World Breastfeeding Week
