Breast/chestfeeding your baby provides many benefits for your baby, you and your family.
Benefits for Baby
- Is easily digested
- Lowers the rates of gastrointestinal, respiratory and ear infections, and SIDS
- Has growth factors and hormones to help normal growth and development
- Has antibodies to help fight infections
- May help prevent or delay the start of allergies
- Contains fatty acids needed for nerve and brain development in baby
- Changes to meet a growing baby’s needs
Benefits for You
- Helps you feel close to your baby
- Releases hormones that help you to relax while you feed your baby
- Helps your uterus return to normal size
- Is linked to a lowered risk of breast and ovarian cancer – the longer you breast/chestfeed the lower your risk
- Is convenient (no need to mix formula or clean bottles or carry formula and bottles when travelling)
- Is always ready and at the right temperature
- Is much cheaper then formula feeding
- Is environmentally friendly
Breast/chestfeeding Support
Partner, family and friends can support breast/chestfeeding. It can help to know that:
- Human milk is made for human babies and supports the development and protection of the baby after birth
- Both parent and baby need time together which helps them both recover from childbirth and learn to breast/chestfeed
- Babies cuddled skin-to-skin at the chest will show feeding cues
- Frequent breast/chestfeeding, 8 to 12 times in 24 hours, will help your baby get enough milk
- In the first few weeks, feedings take about an hour. This includes feeding on both breasts, diaper changes and burping
- It takes about 4 to 6 weeks for most people to feel confident with breast/chestfeeding and for it to seem convenient
- Your continued encouragement and support is very important
How can partners help?
A baby needs a lot of attention during the first months of life. You can help by:
- Bathing and changing the baby
- Bringing the baby to your partner to breast/chestfeed and burping the baby
- Cooking meals and making snacks for the family and grocery shopping
- Tidying up the house
- Doing laundry (you will be amazed at how much one tiny baby can create!)
- Screening visitors and phone calls
- Encouraging your partner to rest when the baby does
