Wonders of Breastmilk! Part 1.

forgive me for being so offline; my girl has some colicky issues (i truly believe she needed her "4th trimester") and its been hard to get online to update!

so i jumped on to specifically post about something awesome.

the wonders of breastmilk.

i have long since heard and believed breastmilk is liquid gold.

not only does it protect your baby against SO many diseases, but when you get sick, your antibodies to the illness are passed to your baby, thus preventing them from getting sick, even with their weaker immune systems, they are still kept healthy!

while i hate to say Breastfeeding "reduces" risks, because i moreso believe NOT breastfeeding INCREASES risks, ill use the term reduce for the sake of this article.

Breastmilk, whether expressed or directly breastfed, reduces the risk of many a mallady.

the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) says this on their website:

• Breast-fed children are more resistant to disease and infection early in life than formula-fed children
  
  
• Breast-fed children are less likely to contract a number of diseases later in life, including juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and cancer before the age of 15
  
  
• Mothers who breastfeed are less likely to develop osteoporosis later in life, are able to lose weight gained during pregnancy more easily and have a lower risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer

But there is SO much more. if you go deeper youll find there are more benefits than just those they named. in my studies, one of my training modules states this:

Human milk reduces the risk of developing the following medical conditions in infants and children:

• Non-specific gastroenteritis
• Severe lower respiratory tract infections
• Atopic dermatitis
• Asthma (young children)
• Childhood overweight and obesity. Longer breastfeeding duration lowers the odd of the child being overweight ²¹. Additionally, breastfed infants regulate their food intake according to caloric needs.
• Necrotizing entercolitis (NEC)
• Lymphoma, leukemia, and Hodgkins
• Type 1 and 2 diabetes
• Acute otitis media
• Late-onset sepsis in preterm infants
• Urinary tract infection
• Reduces morbidity and mortality rates ²²
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Exclusive breastfeeding offers stronger protective effects ¹⁸
• Additionally, human milk enhances visual acuity

HOW INCREDIBLE. of course, im sure ive talked a little about this before.

but today i wanted to bring up another point. this isnt a study i read, and honestly i have not come to the read about this in any coursework on lactation, so i dont know any sources or sites other than personal accounts of friends or that ive read online. ive read in many a place from many a mother that some mothers use expressed breastmilk on minor injuries from cuts and scrapes, burns and sores. One friend of mine told me recently she used breastmilk on her sons blocked tear duct, and it healed! another told me that she would regularly use her breastmilk on bug bites, and it was used during a camping trip by her family to treat minor wounds. Google can tell you lots of stories about this phenomenom. while i havent heard medical professionals back this to me specifically, i thought i would try it out on my own.

During pregnancy with my son in 2008 i developed a rash under my arms that appeared to be acne like in nature. i had it for so long i cant remember how long it took after he was born before it began to clear up. clearly it was some sort of reaction of sorts. when i became pregnant with my daughter, it came back almost immediately. WITH A VENGEANCE. knowing it would stay for awhile i consulted my doctor who prescribed me antibiotics for this rash, what he guessed to be a staph infection.

it didnt work.

so i tried a few body washes with salicylic acid to combat the reash. no luck.

so then, i decided. Lets.Try.Breastmilk.

i was fully pumping until just recently, so i would use about .25 an ounce and slather it on the sores. i did this about three or four times.

these photos are a couple weeks apart.

here is the before.

the photo does not do it justice. both underarms were inflamed and the blotches were large and red. they would come to a small head of pus. quite nasty if you ask me.

here is the after :)

i reached out to my breastfeeding group for some personal accounts of breastmilk healing :)

ill update with their accounts soon.

of course i would be doing myself and you a disservice if i didnt say that these are merely personal accounts of regular ole womens, and you should consult your doctor before trying anything heal-like and medicine-y.

(word vomit)

:)

later breastfeeders.