The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend breastfeeding in combination with other baby foods for up to and over two years and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. Why?
“Breast is Best”
Breastfeeding is encouraged by pretty well all healthcare professionals including Health Visitors, who’s perennial mantra is ‘Breast is Best!’. Indeed breastfeeding is generally considered to be one of the most effective preventive measures a mother can take to protect the health of both herself and her child. The transfer of antibodies and other maternal immunological factors protects babies from many infections and illnesses. It has also been shown that children who have been breastfed have lower rates of childhood obesity. Further, mothers who breastfeed have a decreased risk of cancers including breast and ovarian.
The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding until a baby is six months old and continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritional complementary foods for up to two years or beyond. In biological terms, babies are designed to consume their mother’s milk and this should naturally be encouraged. Especially as breast milk is the only natural, complete nutrition for human infants that contains all essential and complex ingredients. In addition, breastfeeding helps to promote a special bond between mother and child – and one that only a mother can provide.
No matter how good they are it is a mistake to think that today's infant formulas are nearly identical to human milk. The evidence would proves otherwise. Formula-fed babies on the whole do not thrive as well as breast fed babies, and are more likely to die in infancy or childhood. Other reputable studies have shown that when compared with exclusive and extended breastfed babies, formula-fed babies have a doubled overall infant death risk, and 4-fold risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
There is therefore pretty good evidence to show that breastfeeding is best for mum, best for the child as well as being best for the family.