Breast Feeding

​One of my dear friend was chatting up with me the other day about how she learned from someone specialising in evolutionary biology from London imperial college that evolutionary adaptations that took millenia by humans are being seen in a matter of decades. These adaptation she was referring to was in relationship to use of technology especially mobile smart phones.
I was sharing with her that one of the most significant motivation 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 (yes this includes bottle feeding with breastmilk in it) has in the shortest period of time.
A mother 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 its survival. The evolutionary changes we are seeing in the facial structures due to use of bottle feeding, pacifiers and sippy cups is changing the way we breath. These changes to the airway are almost irreversible and extremely difficult to restore.
Therefore PREVENTION is the only choice we have breastmilk feeding in a bottle, use of pacifiers, spoons, sippy cups just does not support our airway and calling it 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.
Too many $$$$ have gone into breastmilk research by breast pump companies to support sale of breast pumps. Breast pumps don’t 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.
I call it ‘the unnecessary c-section of feeding!’