Early Childhood Development: Week 2

Breastfeeding:

"Is Breast the Best?"

               Breastfeeding is linked to many aspects of development in infants. Mothers who breastfeed ensure proper physical development by providing important nutrients and disease-fighting antibodies, protecting their infant's delicate system from illnesses. Breastfeeding is also linked to social development through a stronger mother-infant bond, as the process of breastfeeding provides closeness and intimacy. A breastfed infant's mental health is also being cared for as breast milk is suggested to provide specific fats and sugars that are better for developing brains. It has also been suggested that mothers of breastfed babies are better caregivers.

 
             As a mother of three children, ages 4, 2, and 10 months, I chose NOT to breastfeed. As a large chested woman, I found the changes to my breast tissue, as I started to produce milk during the last two months of my first pregnancy, to be excruciatingly painful, with many odd side effects that could not be explained by my doctors such as a painful burning sensation in and around my nipples particularly at night. I was also uncomfortable with their increasing size and felt that I could not endure several months of breastfeeding while trying to work full-time. After talking with my prenatal doctor, pediatrician, and doing some research of my own, I decided that my children would be exclusively bottle fed and was given the okay by both my prenatal doctor and my pediatrician.

 

               When I went to the hospital to deliver my first daughter, I was asked if I would be breastfeeding or bottle feeding. I told them bottle feeding and the nurse was very pleasant about it. After delivery, I was asked once again if I wanted to try breastfeeding and holding this tiny baby, I started to question my decision. However, I was still in pain from delivery and opted not to. This was my first encounter with a nurse who made me feel guilty for not breastfeeding. My husband assured me (and the nurse) of our decision and I put my guilt aside.

              Our children are very healthy, active children. They are rarely sick and fight it off quickly when they start to get a cold or the sniffles. In contrast, I have several friends who breastfeed their babies and they seem to be sick quite often. Our children are very bright, with our pediatrician always commenting on their intelligence and early speaking skills. They are also very well attached children with a secure bond with both myself and my husband. I do believe that children who are bottle fed while being held close and interacted with, as all of our children were, are to no disadvantage below those who are being breastfed. In fact, I see a lot of our friends' breastfed children who are always in need of feeding and seem to be at mom's breast for most of the day. Finally, I certainly do not think breast feeding or bottle feeding has anything to do with the idea of being a better caregiver. For us it was a personal choice, with no ill effects on our children thus far.

               In Africa, breastfeeding is common practice with about 95% of African mothers choosing to breastfeed. Children in Africa are commonly breastfeed for anywhere from 16 to 28 months. However, there are different reasons for breastfeeding in Africa such as poverty, inadequate water supply, and lack of access to formula. There is much concern over the AIDS epidemic in Africa when it comes to breastfeeding, as transmission of the disease can occur through breastfeeding. There are many studies occurring in Africa regarding breastfeeding, AIDS, and the rate of infant mortality.  I think this will be an important issue in future years, as the results of the research begin to emerge.

                Breastfeeding is a very personal choice that should be honored and respected, regardless of the choice. This subject is important to my professional experience and future experiences in that I may be working with infants again and need to respect a mother's choice about what or how she chooses to feed her baby, breast or bottle. Also, if I do not work with infants, it is important to understand that there are choices made by families that may not be the same as my own choices, but that do need to respected and honored by me as an educator, provided there is no harm being done to the child.

 

 

 

 

Reference:

Breastfeeding in Africa~

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11943640

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.