Mother’s milk is best for establishing healthy bacteria in newborn intestines. In some cases artificial replacements – formula – are used, but unfortunately the result is the establishment of a bacterial gut community for which the infant is not prepared. The altered gut flora increases the risk of infections, as well as inflammatory diseases, such as allergies, asthma, diabetes, obesity, etc., and may also contribute to adult inflammatory, degenerative diseases, such as arthritis, autoimmune diseases and cancer.
Baby’s First Bacteria Come from Mom
Most of a baby’s first bacterial exposure comes during the forceful passage from the mother’s body, by nursing and through intimate contact with the mother. All of these bacteria are good first sources to develop the gut bacteria needed for the infant’s health. The mother’s milk selectively nurtures just a few species of bacteria and kills or suppresses pathogens and adult gut flora. Mother’s milk is especially important during hospital stays, because the longer a baby is in a hospital, the more contaminated her gut flora becomes with potential pathogens (Bezirtzoglou E., et al.)
Prebiotics in Breast Milk
A prebiotic is a chemical or organic molecule that promotes the development of healthy bacteria, called probiotics, in the human gut. Breast milk contains a series of small sugar chains, oligosaccharides, that are structurally related to the milk sugar, lactose. These milk prebiotics support the growth of the predominant baby bacterium, Lactobacillus bifudus, and are therefore called “bifidus factor”. Bifidus factor is lacking from formula. Formula is also deficient in other natural milk components, such as lactoferrin, that provide a defense against inflammatory bacteria in the gut.
A Single Bottle of Formula Has Lasting Impact on Gut Flora
A baby’s gut flora is in delicate balance and is specialized for mother’s milk. Other bacteria cannot grow there. But, if a bottle of formula is given, the impact is dramatic. Formula is so unlike mother’s milk, that it radically shifts the gut flora to approximate an adult’s. The effect can be easily seen, and smelled, in the change in the bowel movements of the baby. Exclusively breastfed babies produce loose, light yellow bowel movements that smell yogurty. The bowel movements after a single bottle of formula look and smell more like an adult’s and reflect the persistence of typical adult bacteria.
Other risk factors for baby’s gut flora include:
- Cesarean section delivery
- Separation from mother after birth
- Treatment of baby (or sometimes mother) with antibiotics
Mother’s Milk is Better for as Long as the Baby Nurses
Mothers and baby continue an elaborate exchange of biological information that continues for as long as the newborn, baby, or toddler continues to nurse. The international recommendations by the World Health Organization for exclusive breastfeeding are for six months and for at least partial breastfeeding supplemented with food, for two years. Breastfeeding beyond two years is common and the milk continues to provide immunological support for the toddler.
So, even if a bottle of formula is consumed, breastfeeding remains the best choice for baby and mother.
References:
Bezirtzoglou E, Romond MB, Romond C. 1989. Modulation of Clostridium perfringens intestinal colonization in infants delivered by caesarean section. Infection. Jul-Aug;17(4):232-6.
Bullen CL, Tearle PV, Stewart MG. "The effect of humanized milks and supplemented breast feeding on the faecal flora of infants." Journal of Medical Microbiology 1977; 10:403-413
PDF File: Supplementation of the Breastfed Baby "Just One Bottle Won't Hurt"---or Will It?
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