Breastfeeding

Colostrum is the precursor fluid for breast milk. It is secreted by the mammary glands during pregnancy and the days immediately after delivery, and provides the baby with everything it needs in those first days of life.

Every baby born long before his time needs breast milk appropriate to his gestational age. For this reason, in the Neonatology Personalized Nutrition Unit of the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid, premature babies who need it receive donated breast milk that corresponds to their gestation period and postnatal age.

The World Health Organization (WHO) advises feeding babies with breast milk for the first six months of life and prolonging breastfeeding as a complement to solid food for up to two years or more.

Between August 1 and 7, World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated, and from Babies and More we will dedicate a daily space to inform, defend and protect breastfeeding. And it is that, although we all know the multiple benefits that it has for mother and baby, there is still a lot of work to do and many myths to demolish.

Today begins the World Breastfeeding Week, established by the WHO and UNICEF to "protect, promote and support breastfeeding, due to the innumerable benefits it brings to the health of the mother and the baby."

Covering for breastfeeding in order to "ensure that passengers of all origins feel comfortable on board." This is how the Dutch airline KLM replied on Twitter to a woman's question about the company's policy towards breastfeeding.

Because their metabolism is faster than that of adults, children are at greater risk of dehydration in high temperatures. So keep in mind that if you breastfeed your baby, in summer, more than ever you have to breastfeed on demand to always maintain an adequate level of hydration.

Breastfeeding, in addition to being the best food you can give your baby during his first months of life, is a precious moment between mother and child, which helps to strengthen the love bond between them.