Breast Milk Is More Than Food

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month, and you probably already know that breastfeeding can provide babies with good nutrition. But human milk is much more complex than simply a source of calories, vitamins, and minerals.

Breast milk contains antibodies, immune cells, enzymes, hormones, beneficial bacteria, and other biologically active components. Its composition also changes as a baby grows. Researchers have even found evidence that some immune components in breast milk change when a nursing baby or mother becomes sick.

In other words, breast milk isn’t a static food. It is a remarkably dynamic biological system.  Here are a few things you may not know about breastfeeding, including ways its benefits may continue long after infancy.

Breast Milk Changes as a Baby Grows

One of the most interesting things about human milk is that its composition is not always the same.

The first milk produced after birth, called colostrum, is thick and concentrated. Although produced in relatively small amounts, it contains nutrients and important immune components that help support a newborn during the first days of life.

As breastfeeding continues, milk changes to meet a growing baby’s nutritional needs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that breast milk changes as babies grow, helping provide appropriate nutrition throughout different stages of infancy. That ability to change is one reason researchers continue to study human milk and its role in early development.

Can Breast Milk Really Respond When a Baby Is Sick?

This is where the science becomes especially fascinating. Researchers have found that breast milk contains numerous immune components, including antibodies, white blood cells, anti-inflammatory substances, lactoferrin, and other compounds involved in protecting against infection.

Studies have also found changes in breast milk during illness. One study found that when a breastfeeding infant had an active infection, levels of certain white blood cells and other immune factors increased in the mother’s milk and then declined after the infant recovered. Other research has similarly found that infections in either the mother or infant can be associated with substantial increases in white blood cells in breast milk.

Researchers are still studying exactly how communication between mother and baby influences these changes, so claims that a baby’s saliva directly “tells” the mother’s body exactly what antibodies to make go beyond what has been firmly established. What we do know is remarkable enough: human milk is biologically active, and its immune composition can change in connection with illness.

Breastfeeding Helps Support a Developing Immune System

Babies are born with immune systems that are still developing. Breast milk provides antibodies and other immune-supporting substances that can help protect infants during this vulnerable period. According to the CDC, babies who are breastfed have lower risks of several conditions, including:

• Ear infections
• Gastrointestinal infections that cause diarrhea and vomiting
• Severe lower respiratory illnesses
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• Asthma
• Obesity
• Type 1 diabetes

For premature infants, human milk is also associated with a lower risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious intestinal condition.

Could the Benefits Last into Adulthood?

Some of the most interesting breastfeeding research looks far beyond infancy.

The World Health Organization has reviewed research examining breastfeeding and later outcomes including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, and cognitive development. Breastfeeding has been associated with a lower likelihood of overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life, as well as better performance on intelligence tests.

It is important to put those findings in perspective. Long-term health is influenced by genetics, family environment, nutrition, activity, socioeconomic factors, and many other variables. Much of the research on long-term breastfeeding outcomes is observational, which makes it difficult to prove that breastfeeding alone caused a particular outcome.

Still, the evidence suggests that the effects of early nutrition and breastfeeding may extend well beyond a baby’s first year.

Breastfeeding Can Benefit Mothers, Too

Breastfeeding isn’t associated with health benefits only for babies. Women who breastfeed have lower risks of:

• Breast cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure

The health benefits may also increase with longer breastfeeding duration. This makes breastfeeding unusual in preventive health: one behavior can provide potential health benefits to both mother and child.

If Breastfeeding Has Benefits, Why Doesn’t Everyone Do It?

This is an important part of the conversation. Breastfeeding can be difficult. Milk supply, pain, latching problems, medications, premature birth, returning to work, lack of parental leave, and many other circumstances can affect whether and how long someone breastfeeds.

In fact, CDC data show that while 85.7% of U.S. infants born in 2022 received some breast milk, only 27.9% were exclusively breastfed through six months. The CDC also reports that about 60% of mothers stop breastfeeding earlier than they intended.

That is why breastfeeding awareness should also be about support, not judgment. Families need reliable medical information, realistic expectations, workplace and community support, and help when breastfeeding is not going as planned.

Helpful Breastfeeding Resources: 

• CDC Breastfeeding Resources
  Evidence-based information about breastfeeding, pumping, medications, returning to work, and common questions.
• Office on Women’s Health: Breastfeeding
  Practical guidance for getting started, overcoming common challenges, pumping and storing milk, and finding breastfeeding support.
• La Leche League USA
  Breastfeeding education and peer-to-peer support, including help locating local groups and breastfeeding resources.
• Oregon WIC Breastfeeding Support
  Oregon-specific breastfeeding education and support available through WIC, including trained breastfeeding staff and peer counselors.
• American Academy of Pediatrics: HealthyChildren.org Breastfeeding Guidance
  Parent-friendly information covering breastfeeding basics, nutrition, milk supply, pumping, and common concerns.

What Do Current Recommendations Say?

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, American Academy of Pediatrics, and World Health Organization recommend exclusive breastfeeding for about the first six months when possible. Around six months, appropriate complementary foods can be introduced while breastfeeding continues for up to two years or longer, as mutually desired by parent and child.

Breastfed babies also need additional vitamin D beginning shortly after birth, and some infants may need additional iron. Your child’s Health Care Provider can help determine what is appropriate.

Supporting Healthy Babies and Families

Breastfeeding is one fascinating example of how closely connected nutrition, immunity, growth, and development are during a baby’s earliest months.

But every mother and baby is different. Questions about milk supply, infant growth, feeding frequency, vitamin supplementation, medications while breastfeeding, or whether a baby is getting enough to eat are all good reasons to talk with your Health Care Provider.

At South Tabor Family Physicians, caring for families means supporting both children and parents through changing health needs at every stage of life.

More Resources

CDC: Breastfeeding Benefits Both Baby and Mom

CDC: Breastfeeding Recommendations and Guidance

World Health Organization: Breastfeeding Overview

South Tabor Family Physicians is conveniently located right off I-205 and are accepting new patients. Call 503-261-7200 to schedule your next visit or get to know our providers here.