Breast Feeding Infants
Throughout history, doctors have urged women to breast-feed their infants. Yet, mistaken ideas of efficiency in medical and infant care have combined to bring about a big decline in the number of women breast-feeding their infants today, as compared to a hundred ago. (Gerald, 1970, p.5) The decline in the number of women breast-feeding has increased the infant mortality rate because of malnutrition. (Discover, 1992, p.15) When they began recording the mortality figures, in the nineteenth century, doctors realized that many more bottle-fed infants had died in the first year than breast-fed infants. Recently, doctors have found evidence that the brain of an infant that does not get enough ...
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has been said that breast-feeding is the ideal method for feeding and nurturing infants, and that it is the best way to achieve optimal infant and child health, growth and development. "Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding and is species-specific; all substitute feeding options differ markedly from it." (www.app.org) A mother's milk changes in composition as the infant grows, to meet it's nutritional needs, but besides providing an excellent source of nutrition breast-feeding has many health benefits. (http://medicalreport.health.org)
Scientist have analyzed human milk and found that it contains antibodies that neutralizes viruses and bacteria that is harmful to infants, which is not contained in cow's milk. (Gerald, 1970, p.29/30) Human milk decreases the risks of acute and chronic diseases. It provides natural protection against bacterial infections within the breast, on the mother's nipple, in the infant's mouth and stomach. (Pryor, 1973, p.60) Studies ...
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One study of premature infants who were tube-fed breast milk or artificial milk, but not directly breast-fed, showed that those who received no breast milk had results of IQs 8 points lower on average than those who received breast milk. (http://medicalreport.health.org)
A study carried out by Lucas, et al. (1952) showed a substantial increase in intelligence of children of low birth weight who were breast-fed. Yet, researchers (Pollock, 1989; Rodgers, 1978; Fergusson, 1982; Taylor and Wadsworth, 1984; Johnson, et al., 1996) found suggesting that the intelligence of full term infants also benefited from breast-feeding, not only infants with low birth weight. Johnson, et al. (1996) ...
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Breast Feeding Infants. (2006, June 4). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Breast-Feeding-Infants/47025
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"Breast Feeding Infants." Essayworld.com. June 4, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Breast-Feeding-Infants/47025.
"Breast Feeding Infants." Essayworld.com. June 4, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Breast-Feeding-Infants/47025.
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