The Benefits of Breastfeeding For Mum and Baby

As a mother of two children now aged 3 and 6, I always want the best for my kids, be it nutrition, education, love and everything in between. The best thing a mum can provide for a newborn baby is to plan and commit to breastfeeding. As both my babies were exclusively breastfed for 6 months and extended for up to 3 years, I can attest that there is a host of benefits from it. I wrote extensively about this subject of breastfeeding during the years bringing them up and now I am just re-emphasizing this subject as part of the the Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign by our Ministry of Health (MoH).

Josiah at 7 months old

Jordan at 9 months old

For me, breastfeeding was not an option, it was the most natural choice to make. That said, it was not exactly an easy journey with my first born as I lack information and awareness about many things. Six years ago, we did not have any Facebook groups to ask direction, or breastfeeding consultants like we do now. I had to learn on the way and with much tears and errors, but yes, I made it to nurse Josiah my first born until nearly 3 years old, while pumping at work 3 times a day and at nights too to provide his supply exclusively for the first six months. Support from the spouse and the company I work in is super important. What my husband helped me most was not teaching me how to breastfeed but just never giving me the option to give up. He never questioned my ability to provide or allowed me to have doubts about it, or tried to ask me to stop when I was seemingly suffering from it. On hindsight, I view that as a great support, as sometimes, lack of confidence or doubts are what caused mothers to stop prematurely, especially during the first month when one too many people with too many opinions crowd your minds. Also, I learned that babies do not need water for the first 6 months as the liquid from the mother’s milk is more than enough for their hydration. That said, they need to be fed very frequently in the beginning days, first to increase our supply and second, their small tummies digest the milk really fast. After a month, they also poo less, not daily, which could cause some mothers to worry and start giving water thinking the babies are constipated, while the opposite is true. 100% breastfed babies will digest 100% of the milk and only urinate, their poo will come in 3-4 days once. Of course, always consult a medical practitioner when you feel something is wrong.

Breastmilk is good for baby because:-

1. Builds natural antibodies for the child


2. Reduces risks of baby getting diarrhea, respiratory infections like pneumonia and asthma, ear infections, obesity, allergy and a lot more


3. Encourages brain development

Breastfeeding is good for mommies because:-

1. Reduces chances of getting breast cancer and ovarian cancer,  Type 2 Diabetes, Stress,


2. Burns calories (up to 600 calories per day)

Mother’s milk contains just the right nutrient for the right age of the baby:
Nutrients and vitamins just exactly suited to baby’s needs

Easy to digest and used for the the growth effectively
Protects baby from many diseases listed above
Nutrient changes according to baby’s age
Contains antibodies and protection from diseases
Helps in growth and development in every stage
No poisoning from environment
Contains enzymes

From my personal experiences, breastfeeding is more convenient than bottle feeding. Whenever  I travel or go out with the baby, I really do not have to bring any heavy bottles, hot water, etc for baby’s food. Also, it is a beautiful bonding moment that is hard to understand by anyone else besides the two of us. My boys today are super close to me, not until super sticky that I cannot do anything else, but they just have this inexplainable bond to me. Of course, spending a lot of fun times with your child is necessary to create that bond too. When the boys get sick in their infant days, breastfeeding was my only consolation, especially when they cannot eat anything and will vomit everything. Through breastfeeding, I know they were not getting dehydrated and were getting the right nutrient. For working mothers, it is totally doable as well, especially with all the new types of electronic pumps available in the market now. Pumping, freezing, nursing with the bottle from the third month onwards was something I had to do daily for nearly 2 years with each child. Eventually of course, I stopped pumping since they were getting their nutrient from food. Knowing that my babies were getting the right nutrient from my milk while I was at work was some sort of a consolation to myself as well, there was a satisfaction in being able to at least give them something while working away from them all those hours.

Time really flies and the boys are all grown up now. Last weekend, Josiah just graduated from pre-school and Jordan had his first stage performance. I was super proud of both the boys who had grown up healthily in mind and body and full of joy in everything they do.

For more info about breastfeeding, please visit http://www.infosihat.gov.my/infosihat/