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EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2008 | Volume
: 26
| Issue : 5 | Page : 4 |
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Dealing with unwanted criticisms
SG Damle
Editor in Chief, JISPPD, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana (Ambala) 133203, Haryana, India
Correspondence Address:
S G Damle
Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana (Ambala) 133203, Haryana
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
PMID: 18974536 
How to cite this article:
Damle S G. Dealing with unwanted criticisms. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent 2008;26, Suppl S1:4 |
Breast milk is an infant's privilege and a mother's pleasure. Breastfeeding is a natural phenomenon, which benefits both the mother as well as child and should not be avoided. Scholars have praised breastfeeding and mentioned many advantages of mothers' milk in ancient scriptures. Breastfeeding is the best method to give love to the child. This makes also the mother a complete. A child understands the mother through breastfeeding. Breast milk is also called as nectar. Each breast should be considered as the knowledge pots for the child, as mothers' milk is naturally sterile and it protects the baby from any infections and diseases. It is always available at right temperature suitable for the child. Mothers' milk serves as a good store of IgA and lactoferrin which is not available in such a high concentration in any other milk. It increases the natural immunity of the child against a variety of bacteria and protects the infants from many diseases. Various digestive enzymes present in mothers' milk make it more suitable and easily digestible for the baby. Breastfeeding also helps in proper development of orofacial structure and it is less cariogenic as compared to formula milk.
Hence, it is an optimum nutrition for all infants and provides immunologic development, psychologic, economic, and practical advantages when compared to artificial feeding. For proper growth and development, the infants should be exclusively breast-fed with no other food or drink - not even water - for their first 6 months of life (WHO).
But it is disheartening to know that the United Kingdom has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe. Many mothers give up soon after birth. A study found that while 75% of women breast-fed their newborns, this drops to 25% for 6 months old. This could be due to the present laws are so stringent that the mothers are not allowed to breast-feed their babies in public. In one of the hilarious example of stuffiness, the national gallery ordered a woman to stop feeding her baby daughter near the famous Tintoretto painting Origin of the Milky Way. It shows Juno breastfeeding Hercules. Just last week a 23-year-old mother was ordered not to feed her 3-month-old baby in a doctors' Clinic , because it breached health and safety rules. Breastfeeding can make a major contribution to the public health as it makes a difference for both mothers and babies right from the first feed.
If women are denied the right to breast-fed in public, they are forced to deprive their baby of the healthiest start in life.
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