The first few weeks of breastfeeding are an amazing period of bonding time for mother and baby. Just as amazing is the essential composition of nutrients contained in breast milk – the most complete food imaginable, cleverly adapting to the needs of the growing infant. However, the most spectacular part of breastfeeding is the variety of containers it comes in!
Apart from the optimal macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins) to support baby development and growth, breast milk also offers protection, as it is full of essential vitamins, minerals, and vital antibodies to strengthen the baby’s immune system. Breastfeeding also provides stem cells, the building blocks for growth and development.
Different types of breast milk:
Breast milk is constantly changing, depending on the stage of lactation and can even change throughout a single feed. An infant’s thirst and hunger can vary, so breast milk adapts to the infant’s fluid and nutrition requirements. The composition of breast milk may even vary according to the time of day.
Lactation (the secretion of milk by the mammary glands) goes through different stages:
- Colostrum is the secretion that is produced after birth for the first few days (1-7). This thin yellowish fluid may also leak from the breasts prior to giving birth and contains a higher amount of protein with less fat than mature milk, as well as antibodies that provide immunity to the baby, as the immunity system is not fully developed at birth. Colostrum also aids the growth and development of the baby’s digestive system.
- Transitional milk isproduced from around day 8 to day 20 during which time lactation is firmly established. Colostrum is initially thin and watery and during the transitional period it becomes thicker and creamier, with the fat content gradually increasing.
- Mature milk is produced from day 20 onwards with a higher fat content and contains all the nutrients that the infant needs for growth and development. The nutrients in mature milk consist of water, protein (providing close to 10% of energy needs), fat (providing half of the energy needs), carbohydrates (mainly lactose – the sugar in milk – providing at least 30% of the energy needs), vitamins, minerals, and as breast milk is not completely sterile, also beneficial bacteria to help make up the intestinal flora of the infant. Mature milk also contains non-nutritional components, such as digestive enzymes, hormones, growth factor, and antimicrobial factors that inhibits the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Alternatives to breast milk:
Breast milk is the real thing and no substitute can replicate the nutritional value of breast milk. For example, whole cow’s milk is quite different in composition from human breast milk, with the proteins, fats and calcium in cow’s milk difficult for an infant to digest and absorb. Whole cow’s milk does not contain sufficient quantities of iron, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, fatty acids, or unsaturated fats, while it contains too much protein, potassium, sodium, and chloride – which may be harmful to the infant’s still developing kidneys. Cow’s milk is one of the most common causes of food allergy in infants.
Infant formula was developed as a substitute for breast milk, as not all mothers are able to breastfeed, or able to breastfeed for the recommended minimum term of six months. Cow’s milk or soy milk are commonly used as the base for infant formula, or else a specialized formula is used for infants who cannot tolerate cow of soy milk, with nutritional ingredients added to closely resemble human breast milk.
How long to breastfeed?
In the mother’s womb the baby receives all the nutrients from the placenta. Once the umbilical cord is cut, the newborn’s immature digestive and excretory systems are forced into action. It takes time for both these immature systems to function properly. The newborn’s stomach is tiny, about the size of a marble, and needs frequent feeding. The digestive system at the same time is not used to ingesting anything different from the nutrients supplied by the placenta, so the baby may lose weight over the first few days. After a few days, the baby’s stomach grows to about the size of a ping pong ball.
Brest milk contains enzymes to assist the baby’s digestive system, which produces low levels of digestive enzymes, partly due to the newborn’s pancreas not fully developed at that stage. It is normal for the baby to bring up frequently until around three months, as the lower oesophageal sphincter (separating the stomach from the oesophagus) is still weak and immature.
The baby’s digestive system, including the digestive mucosal lining, is not fully mature and not ready for solid foods until around six months of age. At this stage, the digestive system produces enough enzymes to digest starches, while the enzymes needed to digest complex carbohydrates only reach sufficient levels at about seven months of age. The bile salts and lipase that help to digest fat only reach sufficient levels between six to nine months of age. Between four and six months of age, the digestive tract is still “open” to allow proteins from breast milk to pass directly from the small intestine into the blood stream. This allows antibodies from breast milk to enter the blood stream, but the larger molecules from solid food can also pass through the “open gut” into the blood stream and cause allergies, food sensitivities or illness.
Breast milk is Nature’s own food and for the first six months an exclusive breast milk diet meets all the nutritional needs of the growing infant. Health authorities recommend that after six months solid food can be added to the baby’s diet, but that breast feeding can continue for the first two years of the baby’s life to ensure the growing child gets all the necessary nutrients.
Conclusion:
The first few weeks of breastfeeding is a special time for bonding between baby and mother. The immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and newborn baby plays an important role, as it helps to release hormonal triggers that encourages the newborn to start breastfeeding spontaneously. Breastfeeding also releases hormonal triggers in the mother, amongst these are the hormones prolactin and oxytocin, responsible for milk production and milk ejection respectively. Oxytocin release in the mother also stimulates feelings of love, caring, and affection for her newborn baby.
Sources:
Breast milk information. Published online. Infant Nutrition Council Ltd. (www.infantnutritioncouncil.com)
Impact of maternal nutrition on breast milk composition: a systematic review. Published 15 August 2016. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Oxford University Press. American Society for Nutrition. (www.academic.oup.com)
Breast milk. Published online and last updated 17 September 2020. Wikipedia Foundation Inc. (www.wikipedia.org)
Human milk composition: nutrients and bioactive factors. Pubmed Central (archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature of the US National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine). (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/)
Review of infant feeding: key features of breast milk and infant formula. Published May 2016 edition of Nutrients (journal). Pubmed Central (archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature of the US National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine). (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/)
Breastfeeding and bonding with your newborn. Published online. Medela. (A research-based company.) (www.medela.com)
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