A Baby's Birthright Final Draft.

Jasmine M. Goff Sturgill

Ron Mitchell

English 201.501

August 21, 2009

Essay #2, Final Draft

1437 words

A Baby’s Birthright

Would you like to try something that can be both entertaining and horrifying? All you have to do is simply walk into a group of women and mention that you are pregnant and intend to breastfeed “for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired” as the American Academy of Pediatrics or AAP recommends. The amusement combined with terror and even discouragement will come when the women begin bombarding with reasons why breastfeeding is too hard, too time consuming, or even impossible for somebody they know (Breastfeeding). The reality is every mother should make a good honest effort to nurse her baby because its the best choice for both her baby and herself.

Most of us have heard the phrase “Human milk is for human babies,” but how many really think about what it means? It means it's meant for a baby to drink. Every mother’s milk is the perfect blend of watery foremilk and rich fatty hind milk with a good dose of whatever antibodies she has formed being exposed to various pathogens. The proteins in human milk do not cause allergies, gives a baby the proper amount of sugars and carbohydrates, and contains the correct amount of easily dissolved vitamins and minerals (Perkins 10).

Infants are meant to exclusively consume breastmilk until they are six months old as per the World Health Organization and the AAP. Babies have what is know as an open gut meaning that their intestines are not fully developed and able to handle the germs and bacteria in regular food until they are at least six months old but also meeting several milestones like being able to sit unassisted (Bonyata When). Few people know that colostrum and later mature breastmilk contains antibodies that help to babies' intestines finish developing (Bonyata Why). The World Health Organization says “It(…) contains antibodies that help protect infants from common childhood illnesses - such as diarrhea and pneumonia, the two primary causes of child mortality worldwide.” Formula-fed babies are at a disadvantage to breast fed babies because they do not get these antibodies according to Sharon Perkins and Carol Vannais (18). Formula-fed babies are 50% more likely to have ear infections, 64% more likely to have problems with their open gut, 72% more likely to be hospitalized due to pneumonia, 40% more likely to have asthma, 39% more likely to develop insulin dependent diabetes, 19% more likely to have childhood leukemia, and 36% more likely to die of SIDS (The Risks). These risks all go up with premature infants. Every single month a baby is fed artificial baby milk, his risk of obesity goes up by 4% (The Risks). With the childhood obesity epidemic in our country, that fact should be encouraging all on its own. WHO has a published a fact file with 10 facts on breastfeeding. Especially interesting is number four.

Beyond the immediate benefits for children, breastfeeding contributes to a lifetime of good health. Adults who were breastfed as babies often have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol, as well as lower rates of overweight, obesity and type-2 diabetes. There is evidence that people who were breastfed perform better in intelligence tests.

One would think no parent would want to deny their child an intellectual edge in today's competitive world so please do not think this was just one isolated study: both McGill University and the New York Times author Nicholas Bakalar reported the same thing in May of 2008. A study was done in New Zealand in the 1970s that found that adults who were breastfed as babies made better grades in school than their formula-fed classmates. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics reviewed dozens of studies and concluded that there is a link between breastfeeding and intelligence (Concato).

One aspect of breastfeeding is advantageous for both mother and child, economics.The breastfeeding resource published by Kelly Bonyata has a really handy table showing the various things a mom could purchase instead of formula. Using 2005 prices, Bonyata determined that a mom who breastfed rather than buying high end formula, she can save about $50 in the first six weeks. Better yet,if she breastfeeds for 6 months, that translates to about $1,600 and 12 months to over $3,000 (Bonyata Financial).These numbers are astounding. Who would want to throw $3,000 away when they have something better for their child that is free? Bonyata's table also includes several things mothers could purchase with the money they saved by breastfeeding. Just think of the amazing custom computer a mother could build with three thousand one hundred sixty three dollars and eighty six cents!

Another disadvantage to feeding her child artificial milk a mother should take into consideration is simply that formula-fed babies are sicker than breastfed babies. Not only do babies who are fed formula get sick more often, but they often are sicker than their breastfed counterparts sometimes even into childhood (Cohen).Therefore formula-feeding mothers who work outside the home miss more days of work caring for their sick infants. A study by the AAP determined that medical costs alone cost between $331 and $475 more for a formula-fed baby in any given year (Ball).

Most people do consider the cost of the tangible artificial baby milk itself but what about the time it takes to prepare it. Breastmilk is ready to go whenever, wherever a mother and child may happen to be.There is no need to worry about the temperature, water safety, or to ever consider boiling a nipple for sterility, OUCH! .

Breastfeeding is best for the mother. Declining the opportunity to nurse her baby, a mother is more likely to suffer from postpartum depression, her chances of developing type 2 diabetes increases, as well as her chances for various types of cancer (Benefits).We all also know sleep helps everyone recover from everything from hangovers to surgery, so it is safe to assume more sleep during the first few weeks of being a new parent would help a mother recover from delivery faster too.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I asked my own mother Betty Hayden many of the questions that kept me awake at night. She summed it up best when she said it was also easier for her “to just pop the baby on the boob and sleep while he ate.” My mom said she simply needed to get the baby latched on and she could read, practice typing one handed, watch TV, attend a phone conference for work or any number of things all while bonding with her child and giving him the best nutrition nature can provide. A true multitasker, she bragged she could nurse her child, make a sandwich,watch a football game, talk on the phone, all while winning gin rummy.

Breastfeeding also causes a woman’s body to produce a hormone known as Oxytocin. Oxytocin is also known as “the love hormone” as reflected in the July 28, 2009 Hathor The Cow Goddess comic. Production of Oxytocin not only helps a mother to bond with her baby, but also helps her uterus shrink back to its pre-pregnancy size. While the uterus does contract on its own, breastfeeding helps it go back quicker normally resulting in decreased lochia or postpartum bleeding, quicker loss of “baby weight” (Perkins 23) and the quicker the after pains end.

Nusing an infant requires about 500 calories a day on top of a woman’s normal caloric needs. For a one hundred sixty pound mom, burning off that many calories would take 40 minutes of high impact step aerobics to burn off (Calorie). Given the unfortunate combination of baby weight and exhaustion that nearly all new mothers experience, any help to lost weight should be welcomed!

Formula feeding has hidden costs in missed wages, sleep loss, work experience and medical costs that negatively impact the child's life as well as the life of his mother as well as the entire household. Declining the opportunity to breastfeed her child increases a mother’s chances of having a number of problems both with her recovery from birth and with her own health later in life as well as decreasing her chances of crucial bonding with her baby. On the most basic level, mothers want their children to be happy, healthy, successful people who both are and know how to love. By allowing a child full unscheduled access to what is his by right of his birth, a mother helps her child by giving him the best chance possible to grow up into a happy and healthy adult.