What are the benefits of breastfeeding?
A complete food containing all of a baby's nutritional needs for the first six months of life, breastmilk plays a crucial role in providing resistance to infection and disease.
From the very start, breastfeeding helps a baby to develop a healthy and diverse gut microbiome, now considered essential for good physical and mental health. Good bacteria from the mother gets passed on to the baby during breastfeeding, from her skin and in her breastmilk.
There are also vital nutrients in breast milk that support brain development, particularly in terms of long-chain fatty acids.
And breastfeeding within the first hour of life has been shown to reduce high neonatal mortality by 22%, with an extra protective effect delivered by colostrum, the very first milk.
For the baby, breastfeeding helps guard against a long list of health conditions including gastrointestinal infections, diarrhoeal diseases, middle-ear infections, urinary infections, respiratory infections, asthma, allergies, eczema, some childhood cancers, juvenile diabetes, childhood obesity and sudden unexplained death in infants, which includesSIDS.
For the mother, it reduces the risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and osteoporosis, and ensures a quicker return of the uterus to its pre-pregnancy size.
Is breastfeeding recommended?
Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is acknowledged universally, including by the World Health Organisation, as the optimal feeding method for infants in order to provide the greatest health and well-being gains for the infant and mother.
And while around 96% of Australian mothers initiate breastfeeding, less than one quarter of babies are still being exclusively breastfed to 5 months.
Our researchers recommend women try breastfeeding and seek help early if they are having any difficulties, and to continue on breastfeeding for as long as they want; hopefully for six months or more.
Alcohol and breastfeeding
It’s important to know that alcohol in breastmilk can disrupt the hormones needed to successfully breastfeed. This results in the baby receiving less breastmilk and being hungry and cranky. This may lead the mother to introduce infant formula to help settle her baby and may eventually lead her to stop breastfeeding earlier than planned.
Our research impact
Our own research found that:
- Children who are mainly breastfed for the first six months (or longer) score significantly higher academically at 10 years of age, especially boys.
- Those breastfed for longer than six months had a lower risk of mental health problems as they entered their teen years.
- Stopping breastfeeding and introducing formula before six months of age is linked to an increased risk of being overweight or obese in adulthood.
Our researchers continue to find ways to make it easier for women to continue breastfeeding, including using e-technologies such as:
- Using the internet to support breastfeeding women in rural WA.
- Developing Feed Safe, an app that safely supports breastfeeding mothers who choose to drink alcohol during lactation.
