Breastmilk is nature’s superfood
Women need support to nourish their babies well. In order to improve child health i-MED Africa supports our community through medical training and advice.
Breastmilk is packed with antibodies, stem cells and other unique properties, breastmilk acts as babies’ first vaccine. It builds their immunity, protecting them from infections, conditions such as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia which kill hundreds of thousands of young children every year.
Infancy is a time of remarkable brain development and growth. During this time, a baby learns how to interact and communicate. Together with responsive relationships with their parents and other caregivers and safe, nurturing environments to explore, babies need good nutrition to fuel their growing brains. During the first 1,000 days, the brain grows more quickly than at any other time in a person’s life. Nutrition provides the fuel that drives much of this early brain growth and development
Breastmilk is the perfect nutrition for brain development. It contains a variety of nutrients and proteins - as well as growth factors and hormones that cannot be replicated in infant formula - that are vital to a baby’s brain development. Breastfeeding involves a great deal of mother-to-child touch and nurturing interaction, breastfeeding also plays a significant role in strengthening a baby’s sensory and emotional circuitry, which are critical for both cognitive and socio-emotional development. Mother’s milk is the food that builds a baby’s immunity and protects her health.
Breastfeeding provides unparalleled brain-building benefits and gives babies the healthiest start to life. However, too many women lack the support they need to start breastfeeding and continue breastfeeding as long as they want to.
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