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Breastfeeding in public is no longer a common sight in Britain
and the U.S. An editor for Mother & Baby Magazine referred to
breastfeeding as 'creepy' and bottlefed her baby from birth
because she said she wanted her body back. TV star Denise Van
Outen gave up breastfeeding after less than a month because she
felt uncomfortable breastfeeding in public.
On the
other hand, supermodel Gisele Bundchen declared that mothers
should breastfeed their babies for the first six months by law.
Bundchen received a lot of criticism for her remarks and was
forced to back down. Her aim was to draw attention to a serious
situation but it quickly became apparent that her views are
unlike those of other Western mothers.
The editor
and the TV star little suspect the long term suffering their
views could have. Indeed, the medical facts about breastfeeding
are generally met with disbelief. Mother's milk supplies baby
with antibodies, perfect nutrition and immune system boosters,
protecting baby from allergies, asthma, diabetes, ear and
respiratory infections and gastroenteritis. Breastfeeding has a
slimming effect on mothers and reduces the risk of breastcancer.
Professor
Emmanouil Galankis has proven that these benefits are lost if
breastfed babies are also given baby formula. The British
Department of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the
first six months because bottlefed babies face dangers breastfed
babies do not.
Despite
the fact that only 1% of women cannot breastfeed for medical
reasons, 20% of mothers never breastfeed, Even worse, at 6
months only 1 in 5 are breastfeeding. These facts raise
important questions about why paediatricians are not being more
successful in encouraging mothers to breastfeed. |
