Breastfeeding is the best gift for the mother as well as the baby. Many mothers feel contentment and joy from the physical and emotional participation with their child while nursing. These feelings are interpreted by the release of hormones such as prolactin, which produces a peaceful, nurturing sensation allowing the mother to relax and focus on her baby, and oxytocin, which promotes a strong sense of love and attachment between them. These pleasant feelings may be one of the reasons so many women who have breastfed their first child choose to breastfeed the children who follow.

Breast milk offers the ideal nutrition for babies because it has a nearly perfect mix of vitamins, protein, and fat; which is everything the baby needs in order to grow. And it's all provided in a form more easily digested than infant formula. Breast milk contains antibodies that help the baby beat off viruses and bacteria.

Breastfeeding lowers the baby's risk of having asthma or allergies. Furthermore, babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhea. They also have fewer hospitalizations and visits to the doctor.

In other words, breastfeeding provides many health advantages for infants, mothers, families and society in general. It is also offering a unique bioactive matrix of compounds that cannot be similarly replicated by artificial formulas because it contains substances and hormones, and other nutritional components needed for optimal growth, health and development in the newborn. Breast milk is both the physiological norm and the ideal nutrition for the human infant.

Numerous studies from around the world have shown that stomach viruses, lower respiratory illnesses, ear infections, and meningitis occur less often in breastfed babies and are less threatening when they do happen. Undoubtedly breastfeeding (meaning no solid food, formula, or water) for at least six months seems to offer the most protection.

As we are now on the subject of directly feeding the newborn child from the mother, it is once again necessary to mention and highlight the importance of breastfeeding which is noticeably encouraged in the Holly Quran: "Mothers shall breastfeed their children for two whole years, for those who wish to complete the term". In conclusion, breastfeeding is not only feeding the child, but also an exchange of love and empowerment of souls.

M. Zuhdi Al-Imam, MD, FAAP

Director, IMC Baby Friendly Hospital Program

Consultant, Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine

International Medical Center