Posts Tagged ‘nursing’

Breast feeding isn’t just breast feeding it has become a science project. Breast feeding science is a creation of an over zealous scientific community. They don’t know where to draw the line in the sand. Nature is not credited with knowing what it is doing. Just like eating isn’t eating it is calories, carbs, fats, sodium, sugar, and a whole slew of ingredients.

Breast Feeding Cultural Context

It seems just as everything is dictated by the times so is the mother child bonds. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have found that the association between breastfeeding and healthy children is not as strong as thought. They have found that it is not the milk that makes babies healthier than bottle-fed babies. The baby’s overall health is determined before he or she is born.

Science Now

Until recently breastfeeding was said to offer benefits to an infant. Now research is saying if a mother is able to breastfeed, and does, this ability is proof that the baby had an optimal life inside the womb. The new research shows that breast milk is not as important for either the mother or the child’s health.

Its Hormones

In the most recent studies researches at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine have recently found a correlation between the level of male hormones (androgen) in pregnant women and breast feeding after the birth.

“Pregnant women who have higher levels of androgens breastfeed less,” says Professor Sven M. Carlsen. “Probably, this is a direct effect of hormones that simply limit nursing ability, by reducing milk production in the breast.”

Really

There is a strong link between testosterone and the ability to breastfeed. Until 1980 testosterone was used to stop milk production when it was desirable. “This was one of the reasons that we wanted to investigate whether the effects attributed to mother’s milk really should be attributed to hormonal factors in pregnant women,” says Carlsen.

It has been found that women who smoke, are overweight, or have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) breastfeed less than their peers. These women have higher levels of testosterone when pregnant. Older women are more likely to breastfeed; they have less of this hormone.

Carlsen says “Its thus not the women’s will to breastfeed, women who have more testosterone in their bodies during pregnancy feel the effects of a hormone that limits breastfeeding. That is clearly why it is not as easy to breastfeed.”

Real Reason

The placenta has more of an effect on children’s health. It may not be the breast milk that is key to the baby’s health. It seems that the hormones that come from the fetus are converted to testosterone and oestrogen in the placenta. If there isn’t enough energy in the placenta a portion of the testosterone is not converted to oestrogen. That effects both mother and baby.

The mother will not develop enough glandular tissue in the breast, and this will effect the ability to make milk. For the child increased exposure to testosterone in utero can increase the incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and polycystic ovary syndrome in girls.

New Message

There is not a real benefit from breast milk. The studies in the past that said the more children are nursed the healthier they will be. Now it is noted that it not because of the breastfeeding. Carlsen says “but even if this is statistically true, it is not because of breastfeeding itself. What has to be examined is the breastfeeding ability of the mother. With that ability it means that the child is already healthy.

Caveat

The one area that the study concluded a benefit  “It appears that children who are breastfed have a small IQ advantage,” Calsen says. “But this needs to be confirmed in new, carefully panned and conducted studies.”

“There are many good reasons to breastfeed, But concern for the child’s health is not one of them. There is no reason why women who are struggling to breastfeed should have to feel guilty, or think they are giving their child a poor start in life if they can’t nurse. Baby formula is as good as breast milk, “ Carlsen says. The implication is you can get mother nature out of a can or powder.

Winpedia.org

“The exact chemical properties of breast milk are still unknown.”

“ The mother’s breast milk changes in response to the feeding habits of her baby and over time, thus adjusting to the infants’ individual growth and development.

Breast milk includes a mother’s antibodies that help the baby avoid or fight off infections, and gives his immature immune system the benefit of his mother’s immune system, which has many years of experience with the germs common in their environment.

Try These Facts

Bishenol A (BPA), a ‘gender bender’ chemical, leaches into canned liquid baby formula. The Environment Working Group (EWG) has research that shows Bipherol-A used to line most infant formula cans,was found at levels “far Higher”  in the product than those that leach from plastic bottles under normal use.

EWG had previously estimated that one out of every 16 infants fed ready-to-eat formula are exposed to BPA at doses that exceeded those that caused increased aggression and significant changes in testosterone levels in laboratory animals.

Formulas contain significantly higher levels of manganese than breast milk, As much as 80 times as much in soy-derived, and 30 times as much in animal milk-derived. This level of manganese in infant formula has been implicated in learning disabilities such as ADHD.

In 2008 there were published articles stating that the “FDA” found traces of melamine in formulas made by the main three American firms. These firms are responsible for 90% of infant formula in the U.S.

Bottom Line

“We would also like to have funding to implement a larger study on the effect of diet and nutrition counseling for pregnant women. There is still much we do not Know,” Carlsen said. Breast feeding science is a waste of funds, since the practice plays out the way nature intended.