Why Is Breastfeeding So Important? Amazing Breastmilk Facts

Our bodies are amazing and they do amazing things! The more I learn about our bodies, the more impressed I am with them. One part of the body system that I’ve been reading about recently is breasts, breastmilk, and, by extension, breastfeeding. My mind is blown with the breastmilk facts I’ve been learning about this week! So, in honor of National Breastfeeding Month, I thought I’d share a tidbit of those breastmilk facts.

Before I dive in though, I want to note that while the body is amazing and breastmilk is crazy cool, I am in no way trying to shame anyone who cannot or chooses not to breastfeed their infant. That is an intensely personal choice and there are many reasons why it doesn’t work out for some families. Some say “breast is best” but I am firmly of the opinion that “fed is best”. Feed your child in the best possible way you can. And, if that includes breastmilk, then awesome! Mother’s milk straight from the breast, as we’ll discover, has properties that can’t be mimicked by science and baby formula. But, bottom line, always: fed is best.

With that clarification, let’s jump into learning these crazy cool, amazing breastmilk facts. 🙂

Amazing Breastmilk Facts

Breastmilk changes composition throughout the day

Did you know that not all breastmilk is created equal?

The first mouthful a baby sucks is very different from the last (assuming they have a full feeding, naturally). The first milk that flows is foremilk. It’s more watery, higher in lactose (sugars) and easier to get flowing. It can help to instantly satiate baby while the slower moving hindmilk starts flowing. Hindmilk is like the “cream” of human milk. It contains more fats, is thicker, and helps to fill baby up/tide them over until the next feeding.

That’s pretty cool!

But! Not only does the composition of breastmilk change in a single sitting, it also changes based on time of day! It changes with the mother’s circadian rhythm, and, as such, is different at morning, noon and night. Multiple amino acids for wakefulness and brain activity peak and wan throughout the day. Other nutrients change throughout the day as well, although the purpose of their ebb and flow is not yet understood. For example, “[i]ron,…peaks at noon, vitamin E peaks at about 6 pm, and magnesium and zinc are both at their highest levels in the morning” (Tillman, 2015).

…and night

I, personally, find nighttime milk composition a wonder of nature. “Nighttime milk has been found to have higher fat content than milk produced during the day and contains tryptophan and melatonin, which helps the baby develop a more regular sleep/wake pattern” (Schulze, 2021).

Higher fat content, as mentioned earlier, helps babies (and adults) feel full for longer. That’s a super helpful boost to nighttime feeds when you’re hoping baby will sleep for as long as possible! Tryptophan is an amino acid that helps synthesize melatonin and melatonin is a hormone that helps produce sleep. Again, what an awesome addition to the nighttime feed! Score!

Tip: It has been hypothesized that your baby will gain even greater benefit from your pumped and bottle-fed milk if the milk is given at a time corresponding to when it was pumped. For example, if you pumped at night, giving that milk to baby at breakfast might be less beneficial than saving it for night. And vice versa. That extra fat content and those extra hormones aren’t going to hurt baby if given during the day, but why not see if they can help baby sleep better at night? If it makes sense for your family, try writing down the time you pumped your milk and provide that unit at a similar feeding time another day. (Source: Tillman, 2015)

Breastmilk includes antibodies specific to baby’s current needs

Antibodies are one way that our bodies protect against sickness. When our bodies detect a foreign substance, they create an immune response to it: antibodies. Antibodies help fight the foreign substance (such as bacteria and viruses) and remember them so that if they return the body can fight them off faster than before.

Babies receive the antibodies their mother’s body produces throughout the pregnancy. They come into the world with this basic protection in place to give their immature immune systems a jump start. Breastfed infants receive continued immune system support every time they breastfed.

Every. single. time.

Any antibodies that the nursing mother creates to combat the bacteria or viruses she encounters will continue to be passed on to her baby via her breastmilk!

Even cooler than that is the fact that small “amounts of the baby’s saliva received through the skin of the nipple are scanned by the mother’s immune system and, if any pathogens are found, appropriate antibodies may be included in the breastmilk by the next feeding” (Schulze, 2021).

!!!!

Yes, you read that correctly!

“This means that if your baby has come in contact with something which you have not, he will pass these germs to you at the next nursing” (La Leche League International, n.d.) and baby will be able to use your immune system to counteract the pathogens attacking their body!

Now that’s an amazing breastfeeding fact!!

Breastmilk changes composition as baby grows

In addition to changing nutrient composition throughout the natural flow of each day, breastmilk is also vastly different for a newborn than it is for an older, more active baby.

Before a mother’s milk comes in, their baby is still able to suck from her breasts and receive nutrition. The “pre-milk” is called colostrum. And boy is it a powerhouse! It is thick and amazingly dense. One or two swallows is all that is needed to fill up a tiny newborn stomach and provide for their initial caloric and nutrient needs.

It does more than just filling baby’s tummy though…

“Colostrum gives your baby immunity to the germs that are in the surrounding environment. It is protective, coating the intestines to fence these germs out so they cannot be absorbed into your baby’s system. This barrier seals your baby’s insides, preparing your little one for a healthy life. Colostrum also kills harmful microorganisms and provides protection from inflammation. It is a laxative as well, and will help clear your baby’s system of the meconium (black stool) that has built up while baby was inside of you” (La Leche League International, 2018).

Amazing.

As mother’s milk comes in, the colostrum is slowly replaced by a greater and greater percentage of milk. And that milk, as mentioned, is different at every feeding. The antibodies change, the nutrient composition changes, and so on. But beyond all that, milk changes again, in other ways, over the course of weeks and months. “Human milk also has the ability to provide for an infant’s changing nutritional needs with age. The percentages of fat and protein levels change over time to meet the increased energy demands of mobile babies” (Tillman, 2015).

In other words, the ratios of fats and proteins in your newborn’s milk are noticeably different that of your toddler’s.

Say what??

So, breastmilk is cycling through its hourly changes as part of the daily circadian rhythms of life while also daily being tweaked with new antibodies while also gradually morphing its fundamental structure over the course of weeks and months??

Why yes. Yes, it is. Amazing, I know. I know….

Breastmilk even changes to accommodate preterm babies

“The milk of mothers who give birth prematurely is somewhat different than milk made by women after a full-term baby’s birth…. Studies have found more fat, protein, and the minerals sodium, chloride, and iron in “preterm milk” than in “term” milk. This variation seems to be good for the preterm baby” (Stanford Children’s Health, n.d.).

Additionally, preterm baby’s miss out on a lot of in utero growth that occurs at the end of the third trimester. This is when babies will “bulk up”, building their muscles and requiring lots of protein. Premature babies now need to build that muscle and bulk up on this side of the uterus. It has been observed that preterm breastmilk contains more protein than the average “term” milk does, thus providing for this unique nutrient requirement of these premature babies.

MIND BLOWN!

How do our bodies do that?? How do they know that that’s what the baby needs?? Truly. Amazing.

Breastmilk is very nutrient dense and is perfect for babies to digest

Babies have immature gastrointestinal systems and as such, they aren’t ready for just any old food. They need easy to digest nutrition and it just so happens that mother’s breastmilk is the perfect solution. Breastmilk is so nutrient dense that there is very little waste to come out as stool (poop). You’ll notice that when your breastfed newborn hits about one month of age, their solid waste diapers slow down. This is because their intestines are maturing and because a high proportion of the liquid that makes up breastmilk is usable nutrients. Very little needs to be expelled. So. Cool.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve read these breastfeeding facts, what do you think? Do you agree that our bodies are amazing?! The amount of daily, hourly even, fine-tuning that breastmilk undergoes to be the perfect food for our babies just has me sitting here with my jaw hanging open.

Again, I want to emphasize that I don’t want you feeling badly if breastfeeding wasn’t or isn’t part of your journey but, maybe we can all agree that our bodies are the coolest things ever. 🙂 Let me know in the comments below which breastfeeding fact you were most blown away by!

All the best in your parenting journeys! xoxo

Hello! I’m Briana!