The Unseen Consequences of Pumping Breast MilkThere’s an assumption that bottle-feeding breast milk to a child is equivalent to breastfeeding, but that may not be the case.
Breastfeeding is about more than the milk. Babies don’t just breastfeed for nutrition; they nurse for comfort, closeness, soothing, and security.
Exclusive pumping — feeding your baby only breast milk, only from a bottle — is traditionally the territory of mothers whose babies are in the neonatal intensive care unit or otherwise medically unable to suckle directly at the breast. With the widespread availability of portable, personal electric breast pumps that can empty both breasts at the same time, hands-free, in a matter of minutes, more moms have begun to jump on the “EPing” bandwagon. These moms, like Boss, were unable to establish a successful breastfeeding relationship despite their best efforts, but they still wanted to feed their babies breast milk.
“UNBEKNOWNST TO MOST HEALTH professionals, a revo (more...)
infants who were not directly breastfed have a significant increase
Another analysis found that infants who were not directly breastfed have a significant increase in coughing and wheezing episodes compared to those who were. Some research suggests storing expressed breast milk may interfere with its beneficial properties. Freezing can break down its immunological cells and lipids (but doesn’t affect its antimicrobial proteins), refrigeration reduces ascorbic acid concentrations, and both storage methods reduce antioxidant activity. Microwave thawing, which is not recommended, drastically decreases breast milk’s anti-infective elements. The effects of these changes, if any, are unknown.
The content of the breast milk itself may differ when it is exclusively pumped. A mother’s breast milk changes according to a baby’s needs, as it ages, as well as throughout the course of a day and the course of each feeding session. Research has confirmed that the fat concentration of expressed milk increases with the baby’s age in the same way that breast-fed milk does. But if mothers don’t pump for long enough at each session, their infants may receive predominantly fore milk (which is high in carbohydrates) and not get enough hind milk (which is high in fat).
As for contamination, everything breast milk touches outside the body during the process of expression and bottle-feeding is a chance for it to obtain harmful bacteria. Bacterial counts are higher in milk expressed with a pump than in milk expressed by hand.
Thorley adds that breastfeeding protects against ear infections not just because of breast milk’s anti-infective elements, but because of the posture of the baby’s head and the dynamics of the suck/swallow/breathe cycle while nursing. She says babies fed by bottle miss out on these aspects.
The content of the breast milk itself may differ when it is exclusively pumped. A mother’s breast milk changes according to a baby’s needs, as it ages, as well as throughout the course of a day and the course of each feeding session. Research has confirmed that the fat concentration of expressed milk increases with the baby’s age in the same way that breast-fed milk does. But if mothers don’t pump for long enough at each session, their infants may receive predominantly fore milk (which is high in carbohydrates) and not get enough hind milk (which is high in fat).
As for contamination, everything breast milk touches outside the body during the process of expression and bottle-feeding is a chance for it to obtain harmful bacteria. Bacterial counts are higher in milk expressed with a pump than in milk expressed by hand.
Thorley adds that breastfeeding protects against ear infections not just because of breast milk’s anti-infective elements, but because of the posture of the baby’s head and the dynamics of the suck/swallow/breathe cycle while nursing. She says babies fed by bottle miss out on these aspects.
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