‘Breastfeeding premature babies may boost their IQ’

Washington: Premature babies who are breastfed during the first month after birth may have higher intelligence quotient (IQ) later in life, a new study has claimed.

The study, which followed 180 pre-term infants from birth to age seven, found that babies who were fed more breast milk within the first 28 days of life had larger volumes of certain regions of the brain at term equivalent and had better IQ, academic achievement, working memory and motor function. "Our data support current recommendations for using mother's milk to feed preterm babies during their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalisation," said Mandy Brown Belfort from Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US. "This is not only important for moms, but also for hospitals, employers, and friends and family members, so that they can provide the support that's needed during this time when mothers are under stress and working so hard to produce milk for their babies," Belfort said.