Hendrick Health offers breastfeeding guidance

The benefits of breastfeeding can be described in three terms: Nourish, sustain and thrive. Those words are this year’s theme for Breastfeeding Awareness Month.

Breastfeeding is beneficial for both mother and baby. Several health organizations recognize breast milk as the best source of nutrition for most babies. Babies need a variety of vitamins and minerals to grow healthy, and breastfeeding nourishes newborns by proving those building blocks, including Vitamin D, iron and zinc.

If breastfed, babies generally thrive and have a lower risk of asthma, obesity, Type 1 diabetes, severe lower respiratory disease, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and gastrointestinal infections.

For mothers, breastfeeding generally helps to lower their risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

Every baby is different, and infants’ feeding amounts depend on their needs. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that infants be breastfed exclusively for their first six months. As appropriate foods are introduced, breastfeeding should continue until the child is 12 months or older.

Breastfeeding is a learning process for both mother and newborn, including how to express milk to be stored for feeding the baby later. Families can learn strategies for successful breastfeeding in the hospital and beyond by taking a breastfeeding class and getting help from a lactation consultant.

A support system also helps mothers succeed at breastfeeding. Hendrick Medical Center and Hendrick Medical Center South in Abilene have earned the Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite Gold designation for proactively supporting employees who choose to breastfeed their infants. Hendrick Medical Center Brownwood is also a Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite.

Hendrick Health regularly offers breastfeeding classes. To learn more, visit hendrickhealth.org.