Author: Wendy Wisner
In many ways, the way you feed your baby isn’t a huge deal. With access to healthy foods and good medical care, almost all babies will fare well, whether they are breastfed or formula fed; and no mother should feel shamed because she didn’t breastfeed.
That said, it’s indisputable that breast milk has some qualities that simply can’t be replicated in formula. After all, it’s a substance produced naturally by a human mother, made and delivered specifically for her baby. Besides having a healthy balance of all the basic nutrition babies need, breast milk is chock full of disease-fighting substances and antibodies.
For example, when a baby gets a virus, and the mom is exposed to it, antibodies are produced by the mother which are then passed on to the baby via breast milk. Pretty cool, huh? Studies have shown that breastfed babies are less likely to catch viruses — and if they do catch them, they are able to fight them off fast thanks to the tailor-made medicine found in their mom’s milk.
These sorts of mind-blowing facts are why the Internet is currently going crazy for a photo taken in a science lab showing the amazing powers of breast milk in action. The now-viral image is proving yet again that breast milk is just as incredible as we’ve been told it is.
