Breast Milk may help Mother Bonding







Breast milk may be tremendously important to mother-baby bonding. New research shows that breast-feeding mothers are more likely than formula-feeding moms to bond with their infants, and also demonstrate stronger brain responses when they hear their baby cry.

Researchers divided a group of new mothers into breast-feeders and formula-feeders, and performed functional MRIs (fMRI) on them about a month after their babies were born. Although all the mothers' brains became more active when listening to their own baby's cry, the changes in the breast-feeding mothers' relevant brain regions were much greater.

Breast Milk may help Mother Bonding Time Magazine reports:

“The study, which the researchers say is the first to link brain activity with maternal behavior, is likely to reinforce the convictions of breast-feeding mothers that they're doing right by their babies”.

Sources:
Breast Milk may help Mother Bonding

Breastfeeding is the least expensive and most effective way to improve and protect your baby's health, and now a first-of-its-kind study also suggests that breastfeeding may have a direct impact on a mother's brain, promoting 'maternal behavior' and increasing emotional bonding between the mother and child.

This is not altogether surprising, since breastfeeding promotes the increased release of oxytocin, also known as the "love hormone," or "bonding hormone."

Breastfeeding Alters Your Brain Activity

Still, it's interesting to note the changes in brain activity observed in breastfeeding moms. The results were published in the April issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and the researchers suggest that breastfeeding may be "the secret" that strengthens mother-baby bonding.

The Yale University researchers divided mothers into two groups:

  1. Nine breast-feeders
  2. Eight formula-feeders
About one month after giving birth, the mothers underwent functional MRIs (fMRI) while listening to audio clips of their own baby, and an unknown baby, crying. While all of the mothers' brains became more active when listening to their own baby's cry, the breastfeeding mothers displayed more significant activity in relevant brain regions.

Whether or not this is directly related to increased oxytocin levels, or whether some other mechanism is at play is still unknown. But it can be worthwhile to take this information into consideration if you're still on the fence about breastfeeding, or perhaps if you're concerned about being able to successfully bond with your baby whether breastfeeding, or not.

The Many Health Benefits of Breastfeeding—For Both Mother and Child

Aside from promoting stronger emotional bonding, breastfeeding offers a long list of life-long health benefits, not just for the child, but for the mother as well.

Breast Milk may help Mother Bonding: Studies have shown that breastfed babies gain added protection against:

EczemaRespiratory- and other types of infectionsHeart diseaseObesityType 1 and type 2 diabetesBowel diseases such as Crohn's diseaseAsthma and allergiesNecrotizing enterocolitis among premature babies
Breastfeeding can also help promote cognitive development in your child. It also benefits the mother in several ways, including:

Enhancing maternal behavior through increased oxytocin release"Natural birth control," as it suppresses ovulation, making pregnancy less likelyDiabetic mothers typically require less insulin

Easier weight lossReducing your risk of endometrial-,
ovarian- and breast cancers
Reducing your risk of metabolic syndrome

Breastfeeding More Successful with Proper Maternity Leave

A recent article in Medical News Today brings up a related and important point in terms of what can help make breastfeeding more successful, and that is extended maternity leave.

Ideally, you'll want to breastfeed your baby for at least six months, but this can be tricky if you have to return to work after a few short weeks of maternity leave. An article in the journal Pediatrics, published last month, points out that national breastfeeding rates in the US still fall short of the "Healthy People 2010" goals.

Of the women who had at least 13 weeks maternity leave, just over 74 percent started breastfeeding. Meanwhile, the breastfeeding rate dropped by nearly 10 percent for women who only had one to six weeks maternity leave. Those with longer maternity leave also had the highest ratio of babies still breastfeeding at three months of age.

:

"If new mothers delay their time of return to work, then duration of breastfeeding among mothers may lengthen."


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