family members or friends trying to talk a mother out of breast feeding on various grounds, e.g., bottle feeding is so much more convenient, breast feeding ruins your breasts, etc.
Hollowell (2004) states that for most mothers, breast feeding is likely to be the best choice because of the numerous advantages of breast milk over formula. She points out that unlike formula, breast milk requires no preparation. It helps the mother lose weight quicker, and, again unlike formula, contains colostrum (the perfect first food).
Also, according to Hollowell (2004), breast milk can fight and prevent many allergies and diseases, helping the baby build a stronger immune system. Furthermore, because there is no bottle preparation, parents have less to do when they get up to feed the baby and this is less stressful. Noting that mothers who breast feed do need support and patience and that these are important factors in whether they should or should not select breast feeding, Hollowell nonetheless feels that in terms of supplying the infant with maximal nutrition, breast feeding is the wisest choice for most mothers.
Heinrichs, Neumann and Ehlert (2002) discuss still other advantages of breast feeding. In particular, the authors note that animal studies of lactation indicate that lactation is associated with a marked blunting of physiological and behavioral responses to physical and psychological stress. However, they point out that these effects have seldom been researched in human studies. In order to determine whether lactation is associated with the same effects for human, Heinrichs et. al. conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on the effects of breast-feeding on neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to acute stress exposure in lactating women. While there were some indications that there may be a dampening of stress response in lactating mothers, this appeared to disappear after one year. Based on their findings, the...