I met a sweet mom yesterday who was married at 15 years old and gave birth shortly after to a precious baby boy with severe disabilities. This mama spends her days caring for her now five year old and her almost one year old. The older brother is smaller than his sibling and is bedridden in their one room home and has been eating nothing other than a mixture of rice and milk for the last several years. Since Ama is still nursing the youngest, I was able to teach her about how amazing breastmilk is, and along with introducing Jawulo (a pressure cooked mixture of grains, beans, and veggies), she agreed to try expressing breastmilk into the nipple of a bottle to feed him. I look forward to checking in on them next week.
Did you know that a mothers breasts adapt to the needs of her child/ren?
- Breastmilk provides nutrients in forms that a developing body can use.
- The mother’s body remembers how much milk is consumed and produces more or less for next time (a mother’s breasts will provide enough for her child, even if nursing multiples or tandem feeding).
- If a child picks up some germs, they are communicated to the breast and the very next time he/she nurses, specialized antibodies are present.
- Breastmilk contains long-chain fatty acids for a healthy heart, insulin for digestion, lactose for brain development, water, fat, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, white blood cells, antibodies, enzymes and more!!
- Breastfeeding protects against Meningitis, rotavirus, diarrheal infection, and reduces the risk of many diseases such as leukemia, Hodgkin’s Disease, Diabetes, and allergies.
Tiffanie Lloyd 