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Benefit for Infants

Breast milk provides important immunologically active agents for premature infants. Breast milk offers these tiny babies vital nourishment as well as immunoglobulins that directly improve the immune status of the baby. In fact, specific antibodies against respiratory and intestinal bacteria and viruses, which are known to increase a child's resistance to infection, are found in human breast milk. Babies with failure to thrive (FTT), formula intolerance, allergies and certain other medical conditions also have been shown to benefit from breast milk.

Various studies have shown the importance of breast milk for infants, noting that it:

• Includes appropriate amounts of carbohydrates, protein, and fat for proper nourishment.
• Provides digestive enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and hormones that all infants require and that also maintain pH levels in the baby's gastrointestinal tract, thereby potentially reducing the risk of ailments such as diarrhea.
• Contains valuable antibodies that can help the baby resist infections and serious diseases and conditions, such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), sepsis, bacterial meningitis and ear infections.
• Can help prevent other conditions such as diabetes, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and obesity.
• Tastes different from feeding to feeding, which helps prepare babies for the wide variety of foods to which they will be exposed in the future