Wouldn't you just stop breastfeeding? How long do you want to continue with it? Of course, you mainly do it for yourself, because he no longer needs it. You also want to have your body back, don't you? He's not a baby anymore, is he? You have to let go! While many young mothers are pressured by the 'breastfeeding mafia' to breastfeed after the birth of their child, I am currently fighting the 'anti-camp' and the taboo against breastfeeding for a long time.
Various scientific studies show that breastfeeding is good for the health of mother and child. Breastfeeding contributes to better social-emotional and neurocognitive development and may even reduce the risk of autism. The reason often mentioned is the presence of beneficial components in breast milk that are not found in powdered milk. A recent meta-analysis shows that breastfeeding promotes bonding between mother and child, provides more skin-to-skin contact and has other positive effects on social-emotional aspects of mother and child. The World Health Organization, the European Commission for Public Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics therefore guide that breastfeeding is the optimal feeding method during the first six months of life.
Breast milk and powdered milk
Sounds nice, but there are caveats. Is it the substance of the milk, or the warm mother's breast that provides the positive effects? Few studies compare the effects of breastfeeding with breast milk and bottled powdered milk. Even if that is done, there are still snags. From an ethical point of view, you can't have women random assign them to a group and force them to breastfeed or bottle-feed.
As a result, the conclusions are based on observational research and mothers who choose to breastfeed may differ in certain areas from mothers who do not (such as socio-economic status, family history, education level, health, etc.). In addition, the advantages and disadvantages are region-specific: where there is no clean water from the tap, the advantages are greater.
Most research focuses on the effects of breastfeeding during the first six months, but there are also studies that have looked at a longer period and find that a longer breastfeeding period is associated with a higher educational level of the child and a reduced chance of developing autism , becomes depressed or ends up in hospital with an infection. In the Netherlands, barely 10 percent of mothers are still breastfeeding at their child's first birthday. In non-Western countries that percentage is much higher. Hunters and gatherers breastfeed for an average of 2.5 years. Archaeological bone research shows that the Japanese 'Yoshigo' mothers, who lived between 4,000 and 2,300 years ago, nursed on average until their child reached the age of 3.5 years old. Medieval South American hunter-gatherers exclusively breastfed until age 2 and continued to breastfeed until age 4. Our closest relatives, chimpanzees, breastfeed for 4 to 5 years.
During working hours
In scientific literature, 'we', including me, are the average NRC-reader including myself count, if weird labeled: Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic. We are far removed from our nature and that is not always according to our wishes. Breastfeeding often does not fit into our busy lives. In the Netherlands, working new mothers have the right to breastfeed or pump during working hours for the first nine months. Unfortunately, the amount of work that needs to be done is not always adapted to the reduced working hours, which demotivates mothers to persevere.
My oldest son was born at 35 weeks. He was breastfed through a tube for the first few weeks. My second started drinking almost immediately after he was born. Breastfeeding gives mothers a reduced risk of postpartum depression, reduces the stress and negative mood experienced and has a calming effect.
I can speak to this from my own experience. I still thoroughly enjoy the intimate moment of peace when I breastfeed my child. More research is needed to determine the precise impact on mother and child. At the same time, evolution has given mothers an instinct that allows them to accurately assess their child's needs. A mother 'knows' what is best and senses when the time has come to make changes, such as stopping breastfeeding. Sometimes no scientific evidence can match mothers' intuition.
Mothers are always right.
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