On Tuesday, Aug. 29, the hospital will celebrate World Breastfeeding Week with its fifth annual luncheon. WHO encourages women to breast-feed for a year or longer, as long as mother and child are comfortable with it. Experts say this extended nursing provides the best nutrition and protection again infections. The Texas initiative encourages the medical community to implement policies and procedures to promote use of mother's milk and aid moms with breast-feeding. The AAP cautions mothers to talk with their obstetricians and pediatricians about any medications they have been taking.
Some medications can pass through the milk, and some can be harmful.
Crenshaw says some people express reluctance to breastfeed because they fear discomfort or not getting enough sleep. However, she points out that you don't have to get out of bed to prepare a bottle if you are giving your baby your own milk. You don't have to be fully awake to breast-feed. Before the 15th century, most children were breast-fed, although early on a nurse rather than the mother often provided the milk for babies of the wealthy. These wet nurses continued to be popular substitutes for mom through the early 1900s.