I met a sweet mom yesterday who was married at 15 years old and gave birth shortly after to a precious baby boy with severe disabilities. This mama spends her days caring for her now five-year-old and her almost one-year-old. The older brother is smaller than his sibling and is bedridden in their one-room home and has been eating nothing other than a mixture of rice and milk for the last several years. Since Ama is still nursing the youngest, I was able to teach her about how amazing breastmilk is, and along with introducing Jawulo (a pressure cooked mixture of grains, beans, and veggies), she agreed to try expressing breastmilk into the nipple of a bottle to feed him. I look forward to checking in on them next week.
Did you know that a mother’s breasts adapt to the needs of her child/ren?
- Breastmilk provides nutrients in forms that a developing body can use.
- The mother’s body remembers how much milk is consumed and produces more or less for next time (a mother’s breasts will provide enough for her child, even if nursing multiples or tandem feeding).
- If a child picks up some germs, they are communicated to the breast and the very next time he/she nurses, specialized antibodies are present.
- Breastmilk contains long-chain fatty acids for a healthy heart, insulin for digestion, lactose for brain development, water, fat, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, white blood cells, antibodies, enzymes and more!!
- Breastfeeding protects against Meningitis, rotavirus, diarrheal infection, and reduces the risk of many diseases such as leukaemia, Hodgkin’s Disease, Diabetes, and allergies.
Writer details:
Tiffanie Lloyd is a birth, nutrition, and trauma care professional, and an advocate for women’s health and healing. As a Parenting and Childbirth Educator, Breastfeeding Counselor, Birth Doula, Holistic Nutritionist, Trauma Care professional, and with certifications in Health and Safety, and Communication, she has opened a Cafe and Community Center, and worked alongside local organizations to provide education and to implement development projects and impact initiatives here in Nepal. She believes that there is much to be desired in the efforts to reintegrate rescued victims of sex trafficking and is working with a team to initiate a live-in aftercare program that will prioritize holistic care and competent reintegration. Furthermore, as a writer and a photographer, she looks for ways to share the beauty and stories of women, their families, and Nepali culture.
This article was first published in August 2020 on Tiffanie Lloyd – Writer | Photographer | Holistic Nutrition | Parenting & Childbirth (wordpress.com).
