wow!

I am really excited about this wonderful news story out today about how critically important it is for premature babies to receive breastmilk.

A quote from the story:

""We emphasize to the mothers how the milk is really a medication for their babies," says Paula Meier, a Rush nursing professor."

Bingo.

I've been writing about this for years: breastfeeding vs. artificial feeding is not a lifestyle choice akin to what color to paint the nursery or what brand of stroller to buy. It's a critical infant-maternal health issue.

Breastmilk is far more like human blood than it is like cow's milk. It's full of living hormones and enzymes and antibacterial elements that simply cannot be replicated in powdered or liquid manufactured milk that sits on a store shelf in a can.

My youngest child was in the NICU for almost a month when he was born. He was tube fed (breastmilk) for the first two weeks. He never had one drop of infant formula and went straight to nursing when he got the tube out of his nose.

Not only did I know breastmilk would help save his life, it helped me feel less freaked out and franticat having my newborn near death in a hospital for several weeks. I felt like I was mothering him, even though for 10 days, I couldn't even touch him insidethe oxygen tent.

The difference in infection and death rates betweeen breastmilk-fed preemies and preemies who get no breastmilk at all are really quite dramatic.