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August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month

Dr. Jim Surrell, Journal columnist

For each month of every year, various healthcare organizations declare that month to be a specific health care awareness month. In addition to multiple others, August is also declared to be Breastfeeding Awareness Month. Today, let us take a look at the many health benefits of a Mother choosing to breastfeed her wonderful new child. The following proven and well documented information is provided by the U.S. National Institutes of Health , the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization. There are also multiple other sources that confirm and provide valuable information about the many health benefits of Mom choosing to breastfeed her newly born infant.

Breastfeeding provides an infant with essential calories, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients for optimal growth, health, and development. Breastfeeding is beneficial to both a mother and her infant and also offers an important opportunity for the pair to bond. Breastfeeding, also called nursing, is the process of feeding a mother’s breast milk to her infant, either directly from the breast or by expressing (pumping out) the milk from the breast and bottle-feeding it to the infant. Breastfeeding and breast milk provide an infant with calories and nutrients, including macronutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).

The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends, in their statement on breastfeeding, that women who don’t have health problems should exclusively breastfeed their infants for at least the first 6 months after birth. The AAP suggests that, if possible, a woman should try to continue breastfeeding her infant for up to 12 months, while adding other foods, because of the many breastfeeding benefits to both the mother and the infant.

Further, the United States American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends the following breastfeeding guidelines. Infants should be fed breast milk exclusively for the first 6 months after birth. Exclusive breastfeeding means that the infant does not need to receive any additional foods (except vitamin D) or fluids, unless medically recommended by the child’s health care provider. After the first 6 months and until the infant is 1 year old, the AAP also recommends that the mother continue breastfeeding while gradually introducing solid foods into the infant’s diet. After 1 year, breastfeeding can be continued if mutually desired by the mother and her infant.

The World Health Organization also currently promotes as a global public health recommendation that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months after birth to achieve optimal growth, development, and health. After the first 6 months, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding may continue for up to 2 years of age or beyond.

The bottom line is that breastfeeding is very beneficial to both the mother and her infant and also provides a very special and important opportunity for the pair to bond

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Jim Surrell is the author of “The ABC’s For Success In All We Do” and the “SOS (Stop Only Sugar) Diet” books.Contact Dr. Surrell by email at sosdietdoc@gmail.com.

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