World Breastfeeding Week: In today’s time, this question has become very common that what will happen if women do not breastfeed their children? If we believe the beliefs prevalent since ancient times, then it is very beneficial for both the mother and the child. Let’s know what gynecologists say on this?
World Breast Feeding Week is celebrated every year from 1st August to 7th August. According to WHO, mother’s thick yellow milk containing colostrum (the first milk that comes in the breasts after delivery is called colostrum) is a complete diet for the newborn. It is believed that this milk should be started to be given to the child within 1 hour of birth.
If we talk about the duration of breast milk, it is different for every woman. Many mothers have milk from the birth of the child till 5 years. Whereas in many mothers it lasts for less than 5 years. It is believed that it depends on the diet of the mother. On the other hand, it is also said that milk comes in the breast only as long as the child drinks the mother’s milk and if the child stops drinking milk, the mother stops producing milk.
Dr. Arpana Haritwal, Senior Consultant of Gynecology at Max Super Speciality Hospital, said, breastfeeding is very beneficial for both mother and child. It is important for emotional bonding and staying healthy. While listing the benefits of breastfeeding for women, Dr. Arpana said, the first and most important benefit of breastfeeding for mothers is that when she breastfeeds the child for the first time, she can establish an important relationship between herself and the child. This creates an emotional bond between the two. One benefit of this is that she forgets all the pain she suffered at the time of delivery. Her attention is diverted from all kinds of pain.
She further said that this also helps women a lot in losing weight. It is seen that mothers who breastfeed their children are able to easily reduce their increased weight at the time of delivery. Advising the women here, Dr. Arpana said that if women take care of their diet after delivery and continue to breastfeed their child regularly, then they can easily lose their weight, because maximum calories are spent while breastfeeding. Dr. says that the most important benefit of breastfeeding is that it protects women from serious diseases like breast cancer.
Talking about the benefits of breastfeeding on children, Dr. Arpana said, “Mother’s first milk is very good for the child. Mother’s milk contains a lot of antibodies which help in increasing the immunity of the child. She said that mother’s milk protects the child from many diseases throughout life. These include diabetes. Also, if the child takes bottle milk instead of mother’s milk, then there is a risk of infection in him. (With inputs from IANS)
Tags: breast cancer, New born, pregnant woman
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 3, 2024, 14:20 IST
