I have been incredibly saddened to see so many mothers feeding their babies with bottles while facing away from them, or sticking a bottle in a baby’s mouth when the baby is sitting in a stroller or a crib, or while the mother is using a smartphone (which turns out not to be smart at all).
The first three years of life are critical to creating that secure attachment, and breastfeeding in the first year is an important part of that process.īottle feeding is a more detached process through an artificial nipple. It can be done by anyone, and therefore encourages babies to be fed by others rather than the mother, interrupting the importance of the feeding experience as part of the attachment process. Bottle feeding also often takes place in positions that encourage detachment. It is a spiritual as well as emotionally elevating experience for both mother and baby. Breastfeeding helps to create secure attachment in babies, which in turn helps them to do better emotionally and mentally than insecurely attached babies. Breastfeeding secures the emotional and physical bond between mothers and babies in the first year of life. The skin-to-skin contact releases oxytocin, a love hormone which cements the attachment between mother and baby and which bottle feeding cannot replicate. The position of the baby to the nursing mother is also unique. The angle of the mother’s right brain to the baby’s right brain-particularly if the mother primarily breastfeeds on the left side -stimulates and develops the right (or social-emotional) brain of the baby through touch, eye contact, and the skin-to-skin experience. Offering adequate support to enable mothers to breastfeed should be evaluated as preventative health care, not as an expense.Īs a psychotherapist and parental guidance expert for over 30 years, I have witnessed how the emotional advantages of breastfeeding outweigh even the nutritional and economic value.
Medical experts use the slogan “breast is best” to advise new parents that breastmilk is better absorbed by the baby than formula, is advantageous for brain and nervous system development, and is associated with fewer health problems throughout life. The World Health Organization recommends that mothers breastfeed for up to two years in most parts of the world. The immunological properties of breastfeeding are well-known. But the truth is that formula is not an empowering alternative to breast milk it is a limiting compromise that mothers must make at the expense of their children’s health to make ends meet in a country where maternal leave is inadequate. Apart from moms who cannot breastfeed for medical or other reasons, many mothers opt for formula out of financial concerns and the difficulty of balancing work and feeding schedules. A recent Vox article framed formula as an empowering alternative for mothers who choose to focus on their career. The situation is indicative of a larger problem that I have witnessed for decades as a psychotherapist: the devaluation of motherhood. has left many wondering why so many mothers here rely on corporate-manufactured nutrition rather than breast milk.
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