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Breastfeeding: The benefits for you and your baby

Why breast is best

• Health care professionals agree that the healthiest food for a young baby is breastmilk.
• Breastmilk provides a complete food source that contains all the nutrients your baby needs including hormones and disease-fighting compounds.
• The nutritional composition of breastmilk adjusts to your baby’s needs as he grows and develops.
• Breastfeeding also helps you to build a good relationship with your baby. The frequent interaction helps to establish your relationship, and suckling at the breast provides a great source of comfort and security for your baby.

Breastmilk develops your baby’s immune system

• We all have immune systems that protect our bodies from invasion by harmful foreign bodies like bacteria and viruses.
• The immune system is made up of a network of defences including physical ones such as the skin and the gut and defences in the blood such as white blood cells and antibodies.
• The womb is a sterile environment, where your baby will have come into contact with very few potentially harmful bacteria.
• This means that a baby is born with an immature immune system, with only a little protection already in place received via antibodies delivered across the placenta.
• The first milk your baby receives from you – known as colostrum – is absolutely vital to his health. It contains white blood cells, antibodies and prebiotics that build up your baby’s immune system.
• Colostrum also acts as a laxative, helping your baby to get rid of his first sticky green stool after birth. This is known as meconium.

Aptamil Pregnancy & Breastfeeding food supplement

Research has shown that the majority of pregnant women in Ireland do not have a healthy balanced diet and therefore are at risk of not meeting their daily nutrient requirements. Due to the increased nutritional demands placed on a pregnant woman, it can be difficult to attain adequate levels of several key nutrients by food alone, such as Folic acid, Vitamin D or Omega-3.

Folic Acid: This nutrient is especially important in the months before becoming pregnant and in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects e.g. spina bifida. The Department of Health recommends that you take a supplement containing 400µg folic acid every day. However, if there is a family history of neural tube defects or if you are taking medication for epilepsy, you may require a higher dose, please consult your healthcare professional.

Vitamin D: The most natural source of vitamin D is the sun. Vitamin D is synthesised in the body when your skin is exposed to the UV rays of the sun. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient important for calcium absorption and health bones. However, due to Ireland’s northerly latitude, the use of sunscreens (important to prevent skin cancer) and limited dietary sources, low vitamin D status is a common problem in Ireland.

Omega 3: The Department of Health recognise that Omega 3 is important for the normal development of your baby’s brain and eyes. Unlike Vitamin D, Omega-3 fats can only be found in food. The main source is oily fish such as herring, mackerel and salmon.

Aptamil nutritionists have developed Aptamil Pregnancy & Breastfeeding food supplement which includes folic acid, Vitamin D and Omega 3 as well as other important vitamins and minerals to help support a healthy balanced diet during pregnancy. Be sure to consult your doctor before taking any supplement. Supplements must not replace a varied and balanced diet.

What happens after I’ve fed my baby colostrum?

• Your mature milk will come in at around the third to fifth day after birth.
• It contains all the good ingredients found in colostrum, but in smaller amounts.
• Breastmilk strengthens babies’ natural immune system. Breastfed babies have a decreased incidence of respiratory infections, diarrhoea, ear infections, bacterial meningitis, botulism, urinary tract infections and necrotising entercolitis (NEC).
• Learn more about immunity and the clinical research carried out on prebiotics.