Breastfeeding: milk composition.
In a way it's an uncomfortable topic, not because it involves breasts 😉🤭 but because not everyone can successfully breastfeed, and in that case, thank goodness we have the world of science to create formula milk for babies 👏
By now I have breastfed 4 kids, so have a good real life experience, but some science facts related to breastfeeding are amazing.
For example, "Breast milk contains about 3.5 g of fat per 100 ml of milk, which provides about one half of the energy content of the milk." Fat is an incredibly important energy source for growing babies (and also makes them extra cute 😉).
Also "Breast milk contains about 7 g lactose per 100 ml, which is more than in most other milks, and is another important source of energy".
Another interesting thing about breastmilk is the protein content. "Among the whey, or soluble proteins, human milk contains more alpha-lactalbumin; cow milk contains beta-lactoglobulin, which is absent from human milk and to which infants can become intolerant."
Interestingly, although breastmilk itself does not contain this, proteins from cow's milk consumed by the mother transfer through to baby. The quantities can even be enough to result in breastfed babies having reactions to the breastmilk if they have cow's milk allergy. 2 of my own children had this, and reactions were so severe that I had to eliminate cow's milk from my own diet to protect them.
In the same way medications from mother can also be transferred to baby, such as codeine, among others, which to be avoided.
And yet, other things are known not to transfer to baby very well, such as paracetamol, and amazingly vitamin D is almost completely absent from breastmilk, resulting in breastfed babies (in the UK at least) being recommended to take a vitamin D suppliment from birth.
I hope this was interesting for you all 😊
