You are having a baby or your baby has just arrived. Congratulations! Being a mum is wonderful! Enjoy your time together. For the first few weeks your baby will be probably only eating and sleeping. And the first question is to how to feed your baby? Should you choose formula or natural breastfeeding?
In my opinion there is nothing more natural and better for a baby then its mum's milk. I've been breastfeeding my baby for almost 12 months. Almost, because she had her last breast milk about week and a half before her first birthday. I enjoyed that as much as she did. This is magic which, unfortunately, dads will never experience.
Midwives or health visitors will tell you only basic information about your milk- it's good for your baby, you don't have to sterilize bottles and you don't have to worm it up because it's already in perfect temperature. But there is much more that nobody is telling you. Medicine still can't tell what breast milk exactly contains. When you're breast feeding your baby, your brain is producing lots of different hormones. This is a hole process connecting two bodies. It's an invisible integration which tells your body what your baby needs now. What kind of substance it must contain, what vitamins and minerals.
It is all natural. You get pregnant in a natural way by having sex. You gave a birth in a natural way, your baby came out of your vagina. So WHY shouldn't you feed your baby in a natural way?
Breastfeeding isn't easy on the beginning but it's worth the effort. I remember my first days, first weeks with this new (painful) experience. My nipples were sore and very sensitive. But I know I couldn't just stop feeding my daughter. When feeding time approached, my body was screaming: "Don't do this to me!". But I had to tough it out. When my nipples were in a very bad condition I expressed milk and fed by bottle. After my nipples were completely healthy we started breast feeding again. Each day, it was better and better. I was proud of myself. I did it!
Okay, now few words about the formula. (I don't want to judge mums who chose it. It's your own decision). Formula is made from dehydrated, skimmed, cow's milk. And cow's milk isn't really good for humans. It's good for calves. It's contains completely different substances then humans milk. Calves have to form muscles first to survive. Baby needs to form it's brain and immune system and to do that, only mum's milk can ensure it's being done. Formula is (for me) a chemical 'something' that just helps a baby not to die by starving. It contains synthetic vitamins which can't be properly absorbed. It always has the same ingredients, so therefore can't change to adjust your baby's needs.
Formula fed babies have often colic and problems with defecation. They're more vulnerable to infections, allergies and asthma in later life. They also developed slower.
Lots of mums decide to not breastfeed because they want to still have beautiful breasts or to sleep during the night instead of feeding baby. Oh, c'mon! You want to have a baby so do what's best for it. You still can have beautiful breasts, just have to take care of them. During the night, you can take your baby in the bed so you don't have to get up to feed your precious.
If for any serious reason I couldn't breast feed my baby I would do everything to give her breast milk instead of formula, even if it would be from another woman. You probably don't even heard about breast milk bank. You can read more about it on official website http://www.ukamb.org/
