My instincts told me to nurse. That was it. While being on maternity leave, I had more time to learn about it. Besides being the food and drink for your precious one, nursing has incredible, sometimes unexpected benefits:
- Immune system for the baby. The infant’s immune system is underdeveloped especially for the first few months and it seems that mother nature wants a baby to learn its environment and not to overreact to every foreign particle. Mother’s milk acts as the immune system in the meantime.
- Kills cancer cells. HAMLET (Human Alpha – Lactalbumin Lethal to Tumor Cells) was discovered a few years ago, by chance, HAMLET was showed in laboratory experiments to kill 40 different types of cancers (University of Gothenburg).
- Reduces the risk of asthma, obesity and type 2 diabetes, ear and respiratory infections (as per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
- Development of the optimal gut microbiome. We know very little about the healthy microbiome, but there is more research demonstrating that breast fed children have more robust immune system and fewer gut related disorders.
- Optimal jaw development: both content of the milk and the orthodontic work that your baby does when nursing help form airways and shape the jaw to avoid teeth crowding.
- Higher IQ; according to WHO, breastfed children do better on standardized tests and have better school attendance.
- Higher Emotional Intelligence: prolonged skin to skin contact is believed to contribute to emotional intelligence.
- Saves you money. I was determined to breastfeed, but if mother nature didn’t allow, I was planning to give my son the Holle Stage 1 Organic Baby Formula.
- Saves you time. No need to leave your bed to make the formula in the kitchen.
- Helps to maintain even mood: Oxytocin gets released each time you breast feed. Nursing sessions with my son are one of the most precious moments of being a mom.
…and I am sure the list doesn’t end here!
So, to all my Working Moms, keep on nursing, have a strategy to deal with work and personal life, and let your precious ones reap all the benefits known and unknown.
