Health for Body Mind and Soul

Along with all the other plans and considerations that must be taken into account for the arrival of your baby is that of diet. You the mother need to take care of your health. This is accomplished by getting adequate sleep and rest, drinking adequate amounts of water, exercising and eating a nutritious diet.

Deciding what you will be feeding your baby is also a very important decision that must be made. Will you give your infant the optimal diet (breastmilk) or feed him or her formula. The choice you make will have long term effects either way. Formula is marketed as being as good as breastmilk, but this is not the case.

Although some of the nutritional deficiencies in infant formula have been corrected by adding omega-3 fatty acids, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid), formula still contains only a fraction of the nutrients found naturally in breastmilk. In addition breastmilk is species specific and contains an abundance of proteins, nonprotein nitrogen compounds, water-soluble vitamins, minerals, trace elements, carbohydrates, lipids, immunoglobulins and essential cells.

All the components of breastmilk occur in the right quantities to nourish your baby, aid digestion and absorption in the gut, provide protection from infections, and sustain growth and development at the correct pace. Breastmilk is ready when the baby is ready to be fed and does not require any preparation for the most part, and is cost effective.

A cost analysis funded by the Stanislaus Children and Families Commission comparing the cost of formula feeding an infant in the first year of life versus breast feeding found it to be more costly to formula feed ($2,102) than breastfeed ($1,752).

Other costs of not exclusively breastfeeding an infant for at least six months are associated with increased risk for diarrhea, pneumonia, dermatitis, asthma, overweight and obesity, gastroenteritis, diabetes (Sadauskaite-Kuehne et al., 2004), eczema (Pratt, 1984), sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and ear infections (Riordan, 1997; Tufts-New England Medical Center, 2004).

Benefits of Breastfeeding

• provides infant with antibodies to illnesses that his or her mother has been exposed to

• boosts natural immunity to measles, mumps, polio

• reduces the risk of allergies

• helps facilitate recovery from illness and keeps infant hydrated

How to Provide Breastmilk

Providing breastmilk directly from mother’s breast (breastfeeding) is the very best in terms of physical and emotional well-being for mother and infant. In cases when the infant cannot breast feed for whatever reason the mother may be able to supply her infant with breastmilk by hand expressing the milk or expressing the milk with the aid of a Lansinoh Double Electric Breast Pump, BPA Free, 1-Count Box or an Ameda breast pump, then feed the infant the breast milk via a bottle or other devices.

Breastmilk Storage

Once expressed breastmilk may be stored at room temperature (77 degrees Fahrenheit or 25 degrees Celsius) for approximately eight hours. Breastmilk may be stored in the main part of a refrigerator where the temperature is coolest for about five days. The temperature in the refrigerator should be kept at 39 degrees Fahrenheit or 4 degrees Celsius. Breastmilk may be kept frozen at 0 degree Fahrenheit or -18 degrees Celsius for three to six months.

Tips

Always wash hands prior to handling breastmilk.

Do not add fresh breastmilk to milk that has previously been stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Store some breastmilk in smaller quantities than the amount usually taken each feed by the baby. The smaller quantities can be used to “top up” a feed if the baby is not satisfied upon completion of a feed.

Do not microwave breastmilk. Thaw by placing frozen breastmilk in the refrigerator, or in a jug of tepid water.

If the breastmilk was previously frozen and thawed in the refrigerator but not warmed, it may be kept in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, or four hours at room temperature. Never refreeze once thawed.

If previously frozen breastmilk is thawed and brought to room temperature it may be returned to the refrigerator for up to four hours if the baby has not fed from this bottle. If the infant has been fed directly from this container of breastmilk it must be discarded, any amount remaining must not be returned to the refrigerator.