Breast Feeding – Not Breast Milk Feeding…

One of my dear friends was chatting up with me the other day about how she learned from someone specializing in evolutionary biology from London Imperial College - that evolutionary adaptations that took millennia by humans are being seen in a matter of decades. The adaptation she was referring to was in relationship to use of technology especially smart phones.

I was sharing with her that one of the most significant motivations for me to help restore breastfeeding as a lactation consultant, has been is to educate mothers on how breastfeeding is directly linked with the evolutionary compensations human species is making at an alarming rate.
Nothing has changed our airway structures like the way bottle feeding has (yes this includes bottle feeding with breastmilk in it) – that too in the shortest period.

A woman breastfeeding is supporting her baby’s development of muscles & facial bones that help us breath optimally. Breathing is basic for human beings. Babies and children will choose breathing over eating since it is survival. The evolutionary changes we are seeing in the facial structures due to use of feeding bottles, pacifiers and sippy cups is changing the way we breathe. These changes to the airway are almost irreversible and extremely difficult to restore.

Therefore, PREVENTION is the only choice. Feeding breastmilk in a bottle, use of pacifiers, spoons, sippy cups just does not support our airway the way breastfeeding does.  Calling these interventions ‘breastfeeding’ is misleading and is a disservice to mothers and young families who deserve to know better. The damage is across a life time and across generations and this is just NOT OK.

Breast pump companies have spent millions on research to support the sale of breast pumps. But do we realize that breast pumps do not support breastfeeding except when used as a medical device during active restoration of breastfeeding. This is the equivalent of c-section for birthing our babies.
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I call it ‘the unnecessary c-section of feeding!’