Most people debate on whether to breastfeed or formula feed their infants, most people say they should breastfeed their infant because it’s a more natural option, but what if you can’t because of medical issues, then what are you supposed to tell them that you would just rather not breastfeed, and risk getting judged because you can’t breastfeed? In this paper, I will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of both breastfeeding and bottle feeding and the effects on the mother while breastfeeding the infant, and anything else having to do with pregnancy; like teen pregnancy and pregnancy-related deaths.
Breastfeeding-
When the mother breastfeeds the baby for the first few weeks, the mother will release colostrum which will get in the milk and once she feeds the baby with that milk the baby will get a lot of antibodies, nutrients, and other things that prevent the baby from getting sick, the milk will only contain things you've gotten sick from though so say you have never had the flu the baby won’t get those antibodies. According to https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/, “It is thick, sticky, concentrated milk and is usually yellow, clear or white, although it could be other colors as well. It is made up of immune factors, protein, sugar, and fat.” It is important to feed the baby in the first few days because of that colostrum that is released for the first couple of weeks.
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Advantage:
Some advantages for the mother's milk are that the baby gets will be nutrients and antibodies from the mother's breast milk that she is providing, unlike formula which is just to sort of ‘mimic’ a mother's milk. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-we-shouldnt-demonize-formula-feeding-2018040313557, did a study on underweight babies and one group was fed with formula and the other with breast milk and formula, at the end of their study they found that the ones who got breastfed and formula-fed gained weight again, but the ones who didn’t get breast milk were more likely to be hospitalized again because it was dangerous for the baby to be underweight. The breast milk that the mother provides the infant with is specifically made for them, unlike formula which is just to mimic breast milk, as I stated previously. Another good thing is that the infant and the mother get a stronger bond while breastfeeding. When the mother breastfeeds the infant they are spending more time together which makes their bond stronger. If the mother were to have a premature child the child is more likely to become healthier and released faster if the infant is being breastfed than if it were to be bottle fed.
Disadvantage:
You have to be with the baby the whole time when you are going to feed it, and if they start crying at night you won't be able to tell your significant other to go and feed the baby. The mother may not supply enough milk for the baby which would lead to the baby not getting enough nutrients and the child getting sick, the mother may get sick during a certain amount of time and she may not be able to feed her child because she isn't producing enough milk for that certain amount of time. The mother may also get sore or inverted nipples which will prevent her from feeding the infant. Inverted nipples is when the mothers nipples gets turned inwards because of the baby being in a weird position
What effect does breastfeeding have on the mother?
The mother may get sore nipples or inverted nipples which will hurt her every time she tries to breastfeed the baby, it is recommended to not feed the child if you have inverted nipples or if your nipples are bleeding. But not all effects are bad, some are good like when breastfeeding, the mothers’ metabolism resets back to normal. According to https://www.llli.org/whats-in-it-for-mothers/, “Exclusive breastfeeding actually turns off the stress response.” and “Exclusive breastfeeding increases both the quality and quantity of mothers’ sleep.”
Bottle feeding-
Even though people see bottle feeding as a bad thing, not all mothers are able to breastfeed for certain reasons like medical issues or if they can’t produce enough milk for their child. Bottle feeding the baby has some benefits with the baby and the mother. Sometimes the birth may have some difficulties and the mother may die giving birth to the child so the father has no other option but to bottle feed the infant. Although formula isn't the most healthiest option it is still available to those who have medical issues and aren't able to breastfeed. If the mother drinks or smokes it is a good idea to formula feed the infant until she stops or the infant will get sick. If the mother is on any medication they should not breastfeed, if the mother has HIV she should not breastfeed, if the mother has the swine flu or zika she should not breastfeed, and if they have a certain chronic illness.
Advantage:
Like the mother not having to constantly having to be with the baby in fear that the baby might skip a meal or get behind a meal, or when she wants to rest and can’t because the baby gets hungry. With bottle feeding the father now gets to spend more time with the infant, if the mother were to breastfeed the infant the father may rarely get to bond with the infant. The mother doesn't have to avoid certain foods when breastfeeding it is recommended to avoid certain foods while breastfeeding because it might affect the infant so now the mother may eat what she pleases. Feeding won’t be as frequent as breastfeeding would, since it takes the infant to fully digest formula the feedings would decrease unlike breast milk which is easier for the infant to digest.
Disadvantage:
Formula isn’t the same as breast milk so the child isn’t receiving the same nutrients or antibodies as a child that would be breastfed. The people making the formula who are trying to mimic breast milk are most likely going to be using some form of chemical in there, that you are brand new to you might not know if they're allergic to anything in it, and i'm not saying that you 100% can not feed the child with formula, you just don’t know what is going inside of it. The infant also isn’t getting antibodies, antibodies are passed to the infant when the mother in breastfeeding the infant but since the infant isn’t being breastfed the child isn't getting any antibodies or nutrients the mother would give the infant.
What they have in common?
They don’t have a lot of things in common but one of the big factors are that the infant is being fed and the parent is doing the best they can to maintain them healthy.
What it takes to be a good parent:
Being a good parent means you have to love and support the child with the decision they make when they get older. When the child gets older and they choose to live a certain way you don’t have to support the child but it would be best if you do support the child because then they're going to overthink and blame themselves for not trying hard enough to please you. To be a good parent you should be economically stable so you can support the child and make sure it has everything it needs, the parents also need to be open minded, have good communication skills, and have trust in the child.
Facing criticism while breastfeeding:
When Breastfeeding in public or in a room with people you don’t know you might be scared of being judged for breastfeeding. If you know you’re going to be breastfeeding always prepare like bringing a blanket that covers you and the infant or maybe asking to go into a separate room if possible to be able to breastfeed the infant, incase some people start looking at you funny and you are uncomfortable. Although some people don’t mind you others may not have the same opinion on breastfeeding in public. Sometimes it is better to go into a more private place even though you don’t mind other people will go at you and say a lot of hateful stuff to you which makes you sad and then obviously your hormones change which goes into the milk and those hormones will make the infant sad and that could possibly negatively affect it, so it’s better if you go into a more private place to breastfeed the child.
My thoughts on teen pregnancy:
I personally do not have a problem on teen pregnancy, I know people who do have a problem with teen pregnancy but that’s their personal opinion because I don’t know if they wanted to get pregnant or they were sexually abused/raped. Most teen parents are usually seen as teenagers who were reckless and were most likely under some influence but that’s not always the case so you shouldn’t really judge a person without knowing anything about them.
Other People thought on teen pregnancy:
“Unless you are financially stable i don’t think you should have a baby unless your parents are willing to help you with the child” - Jolee Cruz
“It is hard, it is not recommendable for a teen because it affects peoples lives and the parson had to get financially stable and it could damage the persons friendships with family, but just because they get pregnant as a teen does not mean that they are a bad person” - Alana Clark
“I think it is fine, because you don’t know their situation so I shouldn’t judge them when if they’re pregnant.” - Edgar Aguilar
“It’s not a good thing, to many responsibilities they should should be focused on school instead. ” - Michael O'rourke
“I don't think it's good because teens aren't mentally ready, they’re physically ready, but they need to get financially stable ”- Sam Parent
“It’s kind of irresponsible to let it happen but if it does happen I wouldn’t really care” -Maddi Sprain
“I don’t think it is good because teens aren’t ready to be parents because they aren’t mentally and financially ready”- Kaleb Bebar
Teachers thoughts on teen pregnancy:
“ I think teens should do anything in their power to avoid becoming pregnant until they are older. In general, teens do not have the resources to give their children the best possible life. Most young adults without children struggle to pay bills and make ends meet, this would be made much harder with a child. They may not be able to go to college and therefore have low paying jobs for the rest of their life. They also may lack other skills needed and may not be mentally prepared. ”- C. Raimond
“I think that very few people are prepared for pregnancy when they are in their teen years. When you're a kid you think you have the whole world figured out, but not until you're older do you realize how many things you know nothing about. I think that some people are capable of being parents when they're teenagers, but often times it's not what's best for parent or baby. Having a child when you're young affects the rest of your life. It affects your career choices, post-secondary education and ability to develop friendships and romantic relationships. I also think it creates problems later in life when mother and daughter are both very young. Sometimes the relationship between child and young parent is more friendly that it is parent-child. The child does not respect their parents because they view them as very similar to themselves. It is also an extreme economic hardship that is hard for the parent but also other loved-ones that try to support. It is also a hardship on society that pays taxes to help support those people with tax money and food stamps and housing stipends. In summation, I think that some people are capable of having a child in their teenage years, but I cannot think of any circumstances in which it is beneficial for anybody involved, and there surely are a lot of people affected by it.”-J. Pankow
What they have in common:
Almost every person said that it wasn't a good idea to become a teen mom but in my opinion some pregnancies aren't meant to happen like if a person were to get raped she wouldn’t want people knowing that that happened to her so she might even forget that there’s a chance she might be pregnant because of all the trauma that she had to face. Although some aren’t preventable, there's a lot of teen moms who could of avoided becoming pregnant, some just decide that pulling out is going to do the trick and they won’t get pregnant. Some people use protection like condoms and they don’t notice that there a small hole in it which results into the girl getting pregnant without them noticing until it’s way too late. Another thing that two people said was that it’s going to affect the way the child looks at the parents when they get older, since their parents are younger than most parents would be they aren’t going to really see them as an adult they more so as a friend.
Pregnancy-Related Deaths:
A pregnancy related death is when the person that carries the infant die because of the infant inside of her, something when bad during the labor, her body can’t handle the changes, or the carrier doesn't get her medical needs. There are ways to prevent that from happening but people just say that that is never gonna happen to them. Some people can’t afford monthly or weekly check ups to see if the pregnancy is going well, some are too busy working so they can afford it which affect the infant, sometimes negatively and sometimes positively because the mother does need to be doing some exercise to make the labor easier. According to https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pregnancy-relatedmortality.htm ”Racial disparities persist. The risk of pregnancy-related deaths for black women is 3 to 4 times higher than those of white women.”, which means women are color are more likely to have pregnancy related deaths than women who are white, some aren’t being paid as much as you pay a women who is white which would cause the women of color to not be able to afford or meet the infants need; according to https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pregnancy-relatedmortality.htm, “Sadly, about 700 women die each year in the United States as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications.”, so it’s not just black women but it’s more common for black women to die because of things that relate to pregnancy than white women to die of pregnancy-related.
Conclusion:
Taking everything into account, it doesn’t really matter how you feed the baby, it just has to be fed; some ways may be more healthier than other ways, some may not but in the end you just have to feed the baby, it doesn’t matter what you use to feed the baby even though some people might see it as wrong at the end of the day the baby is being fed and it’s going to be healthy no matter how you chose to feed the baby. As long as the baby is getting all their needs nobody should judge the parents for their decisions on what to do with the child.
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