Breastfeeding

The public health topic that I chose is breastfeeding.  I chose this topic because I am fascinated by the beauty of it.  Honestly, I was against breastfeeding in the first birth of my child.  I didn’t really understand it nor did I try to listen to people talk about it, but coming up to the birth of my second child, my wife and I discussed it with our doctor and decided to try it. That didn’t go so well. My son never really latched on to the breast. We then turned to the breast pump. After a month, her breast seemed to stop producing milk, so we then had no choice other than to turn to formula.

Breastfeeding is a wonderful thing for the baby if the mother is healthy. The benefits of breastfeeding include; a strong bond between the baby and the mother, antibodies from breast milk which increases immunity, fewer allergies, more effective brain development, and fewer diarrhoeal diseases (Wainright, 2002).  According to Oddy (2004), breast-feeding also decreases the risks of many diseases that appear in childhood and adulthood, such as asthma, obesity, and heart disease.

Most American women are told that they should breastfeed up to six months. After researching about breast feeding in Mexico, I read that the length of breastfeeding is determined by the income and education of the mother. Mothers with low income and education often breastfeed for more than two years of age because they can’t afford the formula. Moms with a high education and income tend to breastfeed for only six months because they believe that the breast milk begins to lose its benefits because infants beginning to eat solid foods. 

Oddy, W. H. (2004). A review of the effects of breastfeeding on respiratory infections, atopy, and childhood asthma. Journal of Asthma, 41, 605-621.

U.S. Breast Feeding versus Other Countries. Retrieved November  12, 2011 from http://www.circleofmoms.com/welcome-to-circle-of-moms/us-breastfeeding-versus-other-countries-546424

Wainright, P. (2002). Dietary essential fatty acids and brain function: a developmental prospective on mechanisms, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 61(1):61-9.