Breast-Feeding 1980
Marshall H. Klaus MD1
José Díaz-Rossello MD1
1 Case Western Reserve University, Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Cleveland, Ohio
Recent diverse observations on the components of breast-milk have forced a thorough reevaluation of the practices surrounding breast-feeding.
In the middle third of this century, modified on humanized cow's milk appeared to be a satisfactory nutritional substitute for the feeding of young infants. However, it now appears that breast milk and breast-feeding influence both the mother and the infant in a complex fashion including immunologic protection against viral and bacterial infections, and hormonal, behavioral, and nutritional functions. This review will focus on the immunologic properties of breast-feeding and its effect on morbidity and mortality, evaluate its role in the attachment process, and make recommendations for methods of facilitating the initiation of breast-feeding and increasing the duration.
MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY
Fig 1 shows the change in infant mortality from 1895 to 1954 in the Western world and the effects of breast and bottle feeding. Note that the percentage decrease in infant mortality associated with breast-feeding is maintained even with the sharp drop in overall infant mortality. With our present low infant mortality rates in the United States, studies to determine whether breast-feeding would still reduce infant mortality would require a very large study population. However, recent investigations have demonstrated a significantly lower incidence of respiratory and diarrheal diseases in infants fed breast milk compared to those fed cow's milk formulas.
