Over the last few weeks, I have been adjusting to a new role in my life, that of a mother. About a month ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I have been very fortunate to have family support while taking on new job titles such as breastmilk chef and human pillow mattress. Through the transition, I have found a new admiration for all mothers and the unique, delicate and sacrificing role they must take on to ensure a completely dependent newborn’s life.
The greatest challenge I have found so far is breastfeeding. Although rewarding, it is also exhausting! What keeps me going is knowing that breastfeeding has a variety of benefits to a growing newborn. In my journey, initially I had to supplement before finally matching my baby’s needs. After talking to many other moms and lactation consultants, every mom has their own unique and special experience with their growing baby.
To think that newborns only need milkfor the first few months of life is profound. Not only do they receive all the essential hydration and calories in an accurate proportion, but somehow manage to obtain all the vitamins and minerals necessary to build their bodies. New studies are demonstrating that even the time of day that breastmilk is expressed has an effect on the baby. In a theory called “chrononutrition,” the composition of breastmilk varies throughout the day to promote different metabolic states and circadian rhythm. In the morning, breastmilk has higher amounts of cortisol, magnesium, potassium, zinc and sodium, all allowing for high energy states in the baby. At night, the hormone melatonin, responsible for sleep, dominates, and amino acids required for DNA building blocks are higher, providing nutrition for rest and growth. Further study in this field is needed to understand if chrononutrition plays a larger part in circadian rhythm and digestion than we previously thought.
Strengthening of the immune system at this early age is another critical function breastmilk serves. When I first began feeding my newborn, I was surprised how little fluid was even being transferred! In the first few days, each feeding consisted only of drops of “colostrum,” which is the milk first formed after a baby’s birth. Despite the small volume, I later discovered it was packed with immunoglobulins, or biomarkers that detect invading pathogens in the body. This helps the newborn gut develop an immune system to fight off common illnesses in real time.
Breastmilk itself is only part of the equation. As it turns out, the suckling action on the breast also plays a part in formation of the oral cavity. When a baby latches on and creates a good seal by flanging out their lips, they then use their tongue to propel milk from the nipple. Observing the tongue while using breast nipples and bottle nipples showed that the tongue needed to work harder by staying more protruded in order to modulate mom’s flow of milk when breastfeeding, however this extra movement was not observed in babies who were exclusively bottle feeding. It is thought that this extra protrusion has effects on soft palate development, and are even observed as children grow into adults.
Oral cavity development is also influenced between breastfed and exclusively bottlefed babies. In breastfed babies, the sucking pressure is created by both the mouth and thoracic muscles. In particular, muscles of the jaw were highly involved in the rhythmic contractions to express breastmilk. In contrast, babies were seen to express milk from a bottle using different muscles and actions. Babies were noticed to create higher pressure sucking, but only created from their oropharynx and nasopharynx, resulting in an implosion of oropharyngeal structures. Additionally, the rhythmic jaw movements were not recruited, and over time the jaw muscles did not develop as strong. Interestingly, this shape alters the maxillofacial structure and results in malocclusions and crossbites and can even affect breathing as they age!
To be honest, I had no idea that breastfeeding had so many unique benefits and it appears we are slowly learning more and more about how it relates to both mom’s and baby’s physiology. When my mom was nursing, society had much less accepting views of women breastfeeding, including doctors prescribing medications to stop women from producing milk. Now with women having much more liberty to feed their children in any way they wish, thankfully more and more research is showing that mom’s do know best.