^^ What I was thinking of is exactly this reason cited below:
It's less about the antibodies lost in storage (which I agree would be minimal) and more about the most efficient way to create those antibodies in the first place. There are reasons beyond bonding and jaw development that the WHO's hierarchy is breastmilk directly from the source first, expressed milk from baby's own mom second, donor milk third, and formula last.
I had to EP for the first 5 months of my daughter's life, so I know firsthand all about that. Moms who EP due to insurmountable latch difficulties are ROCK STARS who deserve every bit of credit for doing the absolute best they can for their babies under the circumstances they've been dealt! But to deny that it's not the ideal is just not honest. I would insist that it is very, VERY close to the ideal, but it is still not the exact same thing.
I have the utmost admiration for EPing moms and have totally walked in those moccasins for just about the first half a year of my daughter's life.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by proudmomof4
 I just posted this as a response in a different thread:
The Womanly Art Of Breastfeeding, p. 358: "The sIgA found in a mother's milk is produced locally in her breasts, but what kind of antibodies are produced in the breast is determined by immune responses in the mother's gut and respiratory tract. When germs enter mother's body, her immune system responds by producing antibodies. Information about this response travels to the mucosal surfaces in the mammary gland, and the breast then makes IgA antibodies that will fight the germs to which mother has been exposed. These antibodies end up in her baby and help him fight the bacteria and viruses in their shared environment. In other words, when baby comes into contact with a new germ, all he has to do is pass it on to his mother, perhaps by nursing at her breast, and her body will manufacture antibodies to that germ and give them back to baby in her milk. The antibodies in mother's milk will also reflect the germs with which she has come in contact in the past. These antibodies will protect her baby especially during the early monts of life, until the time that he is better able to fight disease and infection on his own." Wouldn't that translate in letting the baby breastfeed (in the litteral sense) to get the best immune response possible? |
I had to EP for the first 5 months of my daughter's life, so I know firsthand all about that. Moms who EP due to insurmountable latch difficulties are ROCK STARS who deserve every bit of credit for doing the absolute best they can for their babies under the circumstances they've been dealt! But to deny that it's not the ideal is just not honest. I would insist that it is very, VERY close to the ideal, but it is still not the exact same thing.
I have the utmost admiration for EPing moms and have totally walked in those moccasins for just about the first half a year of my daughter's life.
