Did breastfeeding make my child ‘general’? – Science Time

Kaka (Taemyung), born healthy at 3.93kg, continues to grow up as an outstanding baby who exceeds the graph in the growth chart (the curve that shows the distribution of physical measurements such as height and weight of children and young people). When I go for a walk with Kaka, the elders in the neighborhood scan my healthy body up and down and say one word at a time. “I feel like a general. I think mother’s milk is better.” Although she is a cute little girl with her hair neatly combed and even a pin inserted. Some people say with a sad expression, “I see that the baby is fat, so it looks like he is eating formula milk.” Why do the opinions of ‘good breast milk’ and ‘disappointing formula’ coexist with the appearance of a snappy child? Is breast milk really good, and formula milk unconditionally?

Anatomical changes in the breast as a result of breastfeeding

▲ Illustration depicting the breasts and ducts of a lactating woman analyzed by ultrasound. ⓒ International Breastfeeding Magazine

During puberty, when secondary sexual characteristics develop, and before menstruation, women experience a more swollen and painful feeling than usual. The mammary glands of the chest cause these changes. When the baby starts sucking on the nipple, the ‘hormone prolactin’ is released due to nerve stimulation. The hormone prolactin causes the mammary glands to make milk. Then, when the baby sucks seriously, the ‘hormone oxytocin’ is secreted.

During pregnancy, mammary glands develop under the influence of various hormones such as estrogen and progesterone, which lead to changes in breast size. Most of them complete their growth before the 22nd week of pregnancy, and the degree of growth varies from mother to mother. At the end of pregnancy, breast volume increases by an average of 145 mL, and increases by 211 mL by the first month of lactation. It is known that the rate of breast growth is linked to the concentration of ‘placental lacogen (hPL)’, a hormone secreted from the third week of fertilisation.

Donna Geddes, a professor at the University of Western Australia in Australia, published the results of a study in 2005 in the ‘Journal of Anatomy’ which investigated the relationship between the anatomical structure of the breast and the amount of breast milk. First, the research team recruited 21 mothers aged between 1 and 6 months postpartum who were ‘intact mothers (breastfed only)’ and analyzed the anatomical structures such as the number of ducts and the distribution of adipose tissue using ultrasound images.

Twenty one mothers produced an average of 387 g and 407 g of milk in their left and right breasts over 24 hours. The average number of large ducts was 9.6 and 9.2 on the left and right, respectively, and the average diameter was 1.9 mm and 2.1 mm, respectively. Synthesizing the study, Professor Geddes explained, “The anatomical structure, such as the amount of mammary tissue, number and average diameter of ducts, was not related to milk production capacity.”

The benefits of breast milk that ‘a sea of ​​white is useless’

▲ The positive effects of breastfeeding on babies and mothers have been proven through various studies. ⓒPixabay

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Korean Academy of Pediatrics and Adolescents recommend that you use ‘full hair’ for at least 6 months unless there is a special reason. It is not an exaggeration to say that human history is because breast milk has been scientifically proven to have many benefits. Some of the many studies will be presented briefly.

First of all, it has a positive effect on the child’s health. The mother’s beneficial intestinal microflora is transferred to the baby through breast milk, creating a healthy intestinal microbiome ecosystem in the child’s intestines. This means that your immunity is strengthened. The longer the period of puberty, the lower the risk of asthma in children. There is also the result that breast milk causes epigenetic changes in the child, which reduces the secretion of ‘cortisol hormone’, leading to a child with less stress. It is even said that the longer you breastfeed, the better your child’s intelligence (IQ) development.

There are also benefits for the mother’s health. Breastfeeding women are less likely to die from heart disease, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Breastfeeding for more than 12 months has a lower risk of death. It can also help you lose weight gained during pregnancy. During pregnancy, a woman burns 340,000 more calories than usual, and 670,000 calories are needed during the lactation process 9 months after birth. The effect of a breastfeeding diet is clear if you can overcome the ‘turn back and hungry’ situation.

Meanwhile, it has also been found that breastfeeding after vaccination against COVID-19 can give a child ‘passive immunity’ against COVID-19. In January, researchers at the University of Amherst in the United States reported that they had detected antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in stool samples from mothers who were breastfed after being vaccinated with COVID-19. The same is the conclusion of the study published in ‘JAMA Pediatrics’ in March. In this study, researchers at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands measured the amount of antibodies distributed through breast milk depending on the type of vaccine. As a result, it was concluded that the antibody delivery effect of mRNA-based (microRNA) vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna is better than virus-based vector vaccines such as AstraZeneca and Janssen.

Joseph Larkin, a professor at the University of Florida in the United States, said, “Newborn babies’ immune systems are not yet fully developed, so it is difficult for them to fight an invading virus on their own. The same principle is get a vaccine to prevent it.”

Are the benefits of breastfeeding exaggerated?

▲ Most mothers stop breastfeeding because of environmental factors, not because formula milk is better than breast milk. A series of studies highlighting the benefits of breast milk can cause stress for these mothers. In the long term, some studies have found that the effects of breastfeeding on children are not significantly different from the effects of formula feeding. ⓒPx here

How many mothers decide not to breastfeed because formula milk is better than breast milk? Numerous obstacles such as the health status of the mother, metabolic disorders of the newborn, allergies, and the shape of the nipples will make breastfeeding difficult. In fact, even among my peers who were raising children, there were many cases where I tried to breastfeed, but stopped breastfeeding because ‘the child refused to suck’, ‘the amount of breast milk was is small’, ‘because of flat nipples’. For this reason, it is easy to cause an uncomfortable situation when women are forced to breastfeed on the basis of various scientific merits. Furthermore, there are studies that evaluate that some of the benefits of breast milk are not exaggerated.

A 2017 study published in ‘Pediatrics’ analyzed that breast milk had very few positive effects on children’s intellectual and cognitive development. Researchers at the University of Dublin in Ireland evaluated whether breastfeeding had an effect on the children’s cognitive abilities, such as problem solving and vocabulary, in 7,478 children aged 3 and 5. In order to eliminate the socio-economic level bias, children from similar backgrounds were selected, and surveys were carried out when the children reached 3 and 5 years of age.

As a result of the study, children who were breastfed for more than 6 months scored higher on the problem-solving ability test when they reached the age of 3 compared to those who were formula fed. However, there was no significant difference in cognitive ability at age 5. From a long-term perspective, the conclusion is that breastfeeding has no significant effect on children’s cognitive abilities.

The conclusion of a research team at Ohio State University in the United States published in the international academic journal ‘Social Science & Medicine’ in 2014 is similar. The research team analyzed the effects of breastfeeding on 1,773 children between the ages of 4 and 14 who were brought up by the same parent, but with different feeding patterns, such as the first mother and the second mother (fed with formula in lonely). No long-term benefits of breastfeeding were found in 10 of 11 items, including obesity, attachment, compliance, vocabulary, academic achievement, and asthma. One item where the benefits of breast milk have been found is the likelihood of developing asthma.

Professor Cynthia Collen, who led the study, said, “Some of the existing studies that emphasized the benefits of breast milk did not take into account differences due to socio-economic circumstances, so the benefits of breastfeeding were exaggerated. If not, we will have to look more closely at other important aspects, such as ‘what breastfeeding does to mothers’.

On the other hand, there are studies that question the myth that breastfeeding is economical, one of the main benefits of breastfeeding. It is a point of view that must be taken into account that the majority of women today find it difficult to reconcile work and breastfeeding. In this study, the researchers analyzed data from a longitudinal survey of adolescents and found that mothers who breastfed for more than 6 months experienced a more severe loss of income than mothers who did not breastfeed or who did. breast for a shorter period. This is a study that calls into question the conventional belief that breast milk is ‘free’ because it is made by the mother’s body, unlike formula milk, which has to be bought for cost

How to feed is an important consideration

▲ There is also the result of a study which shows that the way a child is fed, not whether it is breast milk or formula, affects a child’s intelligence. Ultimately, it’s all up to the mother and the child. ⓒPixabay

The breasts of women who have had pregnancy and childbirth can never be the same as they used to be. As it is a change that takes place in the mother’s body, it is the mother and child’s responsibility to decide whether to breastfeed or formula feed, not the people around them. Advice from those around you can sometimes add to the exhaustion of mothers living with chronic fatigue from childcare. Once you have decided on the direction, it is a matter of considering how to breastfeed. Based on the interesting findings, I would like to finish this article by asking fellow parents a question.

The study was published in the European Journal of Public Health in 2012. In this study, the researchers investigated the relationship between mothers’ well-being and children’s intelligence according to the feeding habits of 10,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14. The researchers divided the participants into three groups: a group that breastfed regularly according to a schedule, a group that failed to meet the schedule, and a group that breastfed according to the child’s request. We then assessed the well-being of these mothers and the level of intelligence of their children according to the feeding regime.

The results of this study provide conflicting implications. The level of well-being of the mothers in the group that fed regularly according to the schedule was high. Fatigue decreased, mothers’ confidence increased and the joy of raising children greatly increased. Regular breastfeeding also reduced the risk of postnatal depression. On the other hand, the IQ scores of children who were fed regularly were 4-5 points lower than those who were fed on demand. If we compare the IQ difference of 4-5 points to a class of 30 children, this is the difference between a child in the middle of the class and a child in 10th place. The researchers added that as this is the first study to analyze the effects of breastfeeding on mothers and children, more follow-up studies are needed to confirm a clear link.

As such, raising children is a series of choices. I am thinking about how to proceed with breastfeeding in terms of my life and the child’s intelligence. Is it time to delete ‘Baby Time’, an application that records feeding and sleeping time?

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