Celebrating breastfeeding
Any length of time is amazing!
RESEARCH has shown that women who have breastfed at some time in their lives are less likely to develop heart disease or stroke, compared to women who haven’t breastfed at all.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year across the world from 1st-7th August, and aims to raise awareness about breastfeeding and its many advantages.
Here we explore some of them: Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended until six months, but any length of time a baby is breastfed is a health benefit for Mum and baby.
There is a lot of evidence to show how beneficial it is to breastfeed your baby, especially in the early weeks.
Health benefits
Breast milk contains everything baby needs for the first six months of their life, in all the right proportions.
Breast milk is easily digestible, absorbed and loaded with antibodies.
Breastfeeding is recommended by the World Health Organisation for up to two years, and beyond, because the benefits are so vast.
Getting the hang of it
Feeding your baby can feel quite overwhelming at first – whether you are breastfeeding, bottle feeding with infant formula or a combination of both.
We know it can take time to get the hang of breastfeeding.
If you have any feeding worries or concerns, the best thing to do is speak to your midwife or health visitor for support.
The benefits of breastfeeding are so numerous, and it’s the best start you can give your baby, if you want to and you’re able. Plus, we can’t discount the big benefits for Mum, for health reasons and convenience. However, no matter what choice you make – you got this.
Other useful resources:
https://www.laleche. org.uk/ https://kellymom.com/
■ For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www. heartresearch.org.uk/ healthy-tips.
■ To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our Healthy Heart recipes from our website: https://heartresearch. org.uk/heart-researchuk-recipes-2/
■ Heart Research UK Healthy Heart
Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK