What's in your breastmilk?
Part 1
Part 1
Bonjour everyone! Am gonna spread some goodness about breastfeeding today.
Back to basics: How does breast milk protect your baby from falling sick?
That is indeed the million dollar question, how? Not that simple when you think about it again really. Mommy has gotta maintain her supply, must ensure that she eats well enough and what not, but, it is totally worth it.
.
Breastmilk is like a living complex substance, similar to blood. It has a long list of health-promoting and active germ fighting ingredients. Hence it protects little ones from all kinds of infections, common and not so common ones.
.
A drop of breastmilk contains around one million white blood cells, called macrophages ("big eaters"), they gobble up germs. It is also power-packed with immunoglobulin A (IgA), which coats the lining of babies' immature intestines, preventing germs from leaking through. By coating the intestinal lining, it acts as a protective paint, it prevents molecules of foreign foods from getting into the bloodstream to set up an allergic reaction.
.
Colostrum (breastmilk from first few days after birth), is especially rich in IgA, appears at the time when the newborn is first exposed to the outside world and needs protection from germs as well as foreign substances entering his body. Think of colostrum as your baby's first important immunization... Amazing isn't it?
.
The contents of breastmilk is always tailor-made. Custom-designed to protect babies. Mommy will produce antibodies to fight a specific germ when baby's in contact with something new and bad. Hence when mommy falls sick, best is to continue to breastfeed.
.
There's also this myth I constantly hear most parents say.
That is indeed the million dollar question, how? Not that simple when you think about it again really. Mommy has gotta maintain her supply, must ensure that she eats well enough and what not, but, it is totally worth it.
.
Breastmilk is like a living complex substance, similar to blood. It has a long list of health-promoting and active germ fighting ingredients. Hence it protects little ones from all kinds of infections, common and not so common ones.
.
A drop of breastmilk contains around one million white blood cells, called macrophages ("big eaters"), they gobble up germs. It is also power-packed with immunoglobulin A (IgA), which coats the lining of babies' immature intestines, preventing germs from leaking through. By coating the intestinal lining, it acts as a protective paint, it prevents molecules of foreign foods from getting into the bloodstream to set up an allergic reaction.
.
Colostrum (breastmilk from first few days after birth), is especially rich in IgA, appears at the time when the newborn is first exposed to the outside world and needs protection from germs as well as foreign substances entering his body. Think of colostrum as your baby's first important immunization... Amazing isn't it?
.
The contents of breastmilk is always tailor-made. Custom-designed to protect babies. Mommy will produce antibodies to fight a specific germ when baby's in contact with something new and bad. Hence when mommy falls sick, best is to continue to breastfeed.
.
There's also this myth I constantly hear most parents say.
-When I am sick, I shouldn't breastfeed. *shakes head*
It is the total opposite of what you should do when you're sick really. I'll talk about this another time.
0 comments:
Post a Comment