A new study finds the link between poor metabolic health and reduced breast milk production. The study established the link between maternal health and milk production and linked breastfeeding output to mother health.
Breast Milk – A Complete Nutrition
Breast milk is considered to be the whole food for babies fulfilling all of their nutritional requirements. Breast milk is a complete formula containing good amounts of protein, fats, carbs and other vitamins and minerals. Other than this breast milk also contains hormones, enzymes and growth factors required for the baby. This is an optimal diet for your baby.
Not only this but breast milk contains a good amount of antibodies which makes it an effective source of immune strength for the baby, says the best doctors in Pakistan. However, the production of breastmilk is greatly associated with maternal health. Before we talk about its association with maternal health, let’s see what are some of the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby.
- This is a whole nutritional formula that fulfills all the nutritional requirements of your bay
- It helps to strengthen the immune system which is responsible for an efficient immune system and keeps infections at a bay
- Breast milk helps to support your baby’s digestive system as it doesn’t contain any artificial product like artificial milk which is difficult to process
- It results in healthy weight gain in the baby as he ages. Thanks to all the healthy nutrients in it
- Breast milk feeding improves brain health in children. The nutrients in breastmilk let your baby grow well
Other than these there are many other benefits of breastmilk for mothers as well. These include:
- It also helps you with the post-pregnancy weight loss
- Also, breastfeeding your baby reduces the risk of suffering from many conditions such as ovarian cancer and breast cancer
- Breastfeeding your baby helps to build and strengthen the mother-children bond
For all these reasons, it is crucial to let your baby breastfeed as there are many breastfeeding benefits for the baby and you.
Breastfeeding Output and Maternal Health
Despite all these benefits of breastfeeding, many women suffer from different types of breastfeeding challenges. Low breast milk production is one of the prominent ones. Now comes the question of what causes low breast milk production. Well, the answers are many, including:
- Any hormonal or endocrine problem that can affect the difficulties with breastmilk production
- Women who have done through breast cancer surgeries in past also have reduced milk production
- Certain medications can also reduce the production of breast milk
- Medications can also reduce the
- Not scheduling your feeding during the day can reduce breast milk production.
Breastmilk production is also associated with the physical health of women. This includes all different parameters of women’s health. Recently a study was conducted to investigate the link between breast milk production and the metabolic health of women.
The study was conducted by the University of Cincinnati and was published in the Journal of Breastfeeding Medicine. The study was led by Laurie Nommsen-Rivers, Associate Professor of Nutrition. The Nommsen-Rivers and the team conducted a study in which they screened the breast milk supply in women from Feb 2015-June to 2016. Researchers then compared breast milk production. The milk production and breast emptying frequency was recorded. While we talk about the metabolic variables it included gestational diabetes mellitus and assessment of insulin resistance.
The result of the study indicated that obesity and bad metabolic health are the strong risk factors behind extremely low milk production. However, there should be further studies in this regard to identify these individual risk factors in detail. This metabolically driven low milk supply should be managed with patient-centered approaches through clinical and qualitative research studies.
Bottom Line!
Breast milk is a complete formula for the baby. The production of breastmilk is dependent upon many different factors. This even takes into account the physiological health of the mother.
Recent studies investigated the impact of metabolic disorders on the production of breast milk. The presence of metabolic disorders can reduce the production of breast milk in mothers to a variable extent. Further studies are required in this regard to improve the approaches for the management of consistently low milk supply.
