It is said that babies who are breastfeed have higher intelligence than babies who are given the processed formula. And in my opinion this is true. One of my closest friends, who has 4 children of her own attested to this fact. She stated that of all of her children the one that she breastfed is the one who is more cognitive or is the better thinker. And as an online compilation concerning the advantages of breastfeeding, compiled by Dr. Jon Ahrendsen states, “In 771 low-birth-weight infants, babies whose mothers chose to provide breastmilk had an 8-point advantage in mean Bayley's mental developmental index over infants of mothers choosing not to do so” she may be correct. After researching more about this article I found that the benefit of breastfeeding has the same far-reaching affects in the development of babies in the United States and abroad, not only does it provide a form of economic relief for mothers, it provides a healthy barrier towards babies becoming infected with various diseases. I think one hindrance to breastfeeding in the United States is that there is some embarrassment of doing so in public especially in the south, as another article found on the internet states, “Breastfeeding, public or otherwise, in the USA varies greatly from region to region and person to person, since it is such an extremely diverse place. Rarely is breastfeeding seen in public in the south, and I usually preferred to nurse my daughter in the parking lot in the car or in a nursing room set up for that purpose. I had trouble with stares and criticism in a restaurant or appointment waiting room. However from another web article a mother in West Africa states “It is interesting to see that all of the things that are slowly coming back into style for nursing mothers in the US have never gone out of style here. It's common for breastfeeding to be recognized as the best, healthiest, cheapest, and easiest way to raise a baby. When baby needs to nurse, mother just swings her baby around to her side and latches him on. I never noticed a mother who was embarrassed to nurse in public here". This research has really enlightened me so much o that if I should ever be blessed to give birth again, I will breastfeed my child for the duration. And I have become a strong proponent of breastfeeding. Therefore, in the future I will make an effort to stress the importance of breastfeeding to all of my Women, Infants, and Children’s (WIC) clients.
by Jon Ahrendsen, MD, FAAFP
Clarion, IA USA (515) 532-2836
Clarion, IA USA (515) 532-2836
http://www.007b.com/public-breastfeeding-northamerica.php
http://www.llli.org/NB/NBJanFeb06p12a.html
