The decision to breastfeed or formula feed your new baby is very personal and will depend on your circumstances.

The general consensus is that ‘breasts are best’, but of course this is not always possible for a variety of reasons.

Here are some points you may want to consider to help you decide which one is best for you and your new baby.

formula milk:

Formula milk has a higher protein content, but the protein found in breast milk is more digestible and assimilable, and therefore less is required.

Breast milk:

Breast milk has a higher carbohydrate content.

Breast milk contains Bifidus factor, beneficial bacteria to help with the baby’s immune system.

The bifidus factor discourages the growth of pathogenic organisms.

Breast milk in the first few days contains colostrum, which contains all the necessary immune factors, as well as growth factors and a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Colostrum can fight and eliminate bacterial invaders in the intestinal tract and is good for the lungs, throat, and intestines.

did you know

Every newborn baby has a “leaky gut.” This is natural and it is as nature intended.

Over time, this gut should ‘heal’ or become less permeable. If not healed, undigested proteins can cross the intestine and cause allergic reactions. Normally, this isn’t a problem, because one of the ingredients found naturally in breast milk (secretory immunoglobulin A, or sIgA for short) helps seal the leak.

This is one of the reasons that breast milk helps the baby to develop a healthy immune system.

If the naturally occurring leaky gut in the newborn does not ‘heal’ (which it does naturally with breastfeeding), then cow’s milk proteins can cross the leaky gut and cause an immune reaction. This is why so many babies do better on breast milk.

Other important benefits of breast milk are:

• It has been shown that babies or children fed cow’s milk too early can develop type 1 diabetes.
• Breast milk has a laxative effect, which favors the passage of the first stools, preventing jaundice in the newborn.
• Formula-fed babies tend to have harder, smellier stools than breast-fed babies.
• Minerals from breast milk are better absorbed than minerals from formula milk. Unabsorbed portions of minerals can change the balance of bacteria in the newborn’s gut, creating a greater opportunity for dysbiosis (bacterial imbalance).

Studies:

Twenty different studies, including two controlled trials, suggest various long-term benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. When babies were exclusively breastfed for six months (that is, no solids or liquids other than human milk, apart from vitamins and medications), they had a lower risk of gastrointestinal infection than those who were exclusively breastfed for only three or four months. Mothers lost their maternal weight more easily after giving birth and delayed the return of menstrual periods with longer lactation period. There were no adverse effects on the growth of the baby, although in developing countries there was some incidence of reduced iron levels.

A study conducted at the Institute of Child Health in London found that babies who received a “nutrient-poor” diet rather than a “nutrient-rich” diet in their early days were healthier as teenagers. This may be of some comfort to mothers who normally produce very small amounts of milk in the first few days after birth. Perhaps nature knows what it is doing?

What do you think?

Perhaps nature knows what it is doing?

Conclusion:

If you think breastfeeding isn’t for you, don’t rule it out outright – talk to your midwife, lactation consultant or health visitor about it. The alternative option is to add powdered colostrum to the formula.