Child Development and Public health- Breast feeding

                I was a baby that was not breast fed. My mother had a hard time producing milk and even when she did, it wasn’t enough. My sister was adopted. She of course was not breast fed. My cousin just had two boys in the past five years. She could not breast feed. One reason was due to the fact she was not producing any milk and if she did it hurt so bad that she could not do it. This topic is very interesting when it comes to my family. Many women in my family have had a hard time producing milk, let alone be able to breast feed.

                Breast feeding has many benefits. Human milk is sterile. It is rich with iron and other vitamins. According to Berger, babies that are breast fed are often less sick due to the antibodies that come from the mother’s milk.  Also, breast milk has specific fats and sugars that make it easier to digest and better for the infant’s brain (2012).  Yes research shows that breast fed babies are healthier and may be getting different nutritients compared to babies that are formula fed, but due to health circumstances many women cannot breast feed. This decision has been a topic for millions of mothers and health care providers. It depends on the family, mother, child place and culture they live in. Culture and place play a role in this decision of breast feeding.

Breast feeding around the world: In Africa on demand feeding is a way of practicing good parenting. This means that it is ok to breast feed whenever or wherever. In the western world, it is looked down upon to show that you are breast feeding.  In France around 50 percent of women breast feed their infants. However, 30 percent of the stop at 3 months (Brown, 2013). In Peru it is normal for a mother to be breast feeding in public. 97% of infants in peru are breast fed at birth and 69% of those are breast fed till five months (In Culture Parent, 2013).

http://www.incultureparent.com/2012/03/breastfeeding-around-the-world/ This is a great website to learn about different cultures and their belief and practices of breast feeding.

Brown, T. (2013). Breast feedings’ popularity varies from place to place. Breast Feeding Around the World. Retreived on May 17, 2013 from http://www.breastfeed.com/nursing-mothers-life/nursing-facts

Berger K.S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6^th Ed). New York: NY Worth Publishers