Breast Milk: The Natural Immune Booster.

     This is the first pale yellow milk the breast produce after birth. It is most effective in antibodies, which has caused some people called it the baby's first immunization. Colostrum is very high in vitamin A, protein, calcium, minerals, nitrogen, white blood cells and other antibodies that the body need at that time.

     Colostrum contain less fat and sugar than mature milk. It contain some laxative effect and do helps the newborn clear his gastrointestinal wall of meconium, which is the waste products accumulated before birth, thereby reducing the rate of jaundice. It goes a long way to building the initial antibodies of the baby, a little colostrum goes a long way, since each drop of colostrum is packed with nutritional and protective components just like a canopy.

               Mature Milk

     This comes in after two to five days of birth,depending on the frequency of nursing in the first hours and days after birth. It comes in greater amount than colostrum, but still packed with all the nutritional and protective component. Mature milk contains water,fat, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals, amino acid is not left out in the order, followed by enzymes and white blood cells.

     However, on course of feeding, there exist a change from fore milk to hind milk. Fore milk is high in water and lactose, whereas hind milk is high in fat and calories. this changes continues such that it strike a balance in the weight and appetite of the baby untill solid food is introduced to become a daily part of his diet.

     There is simply no better food for newborn than breast milk, breastfed babies have lower rate of hospital admission, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies, and other medical problems than bottle fed babies. Breastfeeding is also reported to protects the child against respiratory illnesses.

     Research prove that adult who as babies were breastfed for several months had higher intelligent quotient than those who were breastfed for two weeks to one month. In a recommendation by American Academy of Pediatrics, they said that a child should be nursed for six months and if possible for a year or more.

     Children are not the only one benefiting from breastfeeding. According to one research report that every year a mother breastfeeds, she cut her lifetime risk of developing breast cancer by 4.3 percent. The child risk of becoming obese later in life may be reduced by up to 30 percent with breastfeeding.

      There are very few waste products in breast milk which is almost perfectly utilized, this could reason why United Nation calls for a six months nursing period for mothers. In a nutshell breastfeeding is a task in life which must be accomplished by mothers as this has brought to fore the reason why breast milk is the mother of all medicines.