One mum’s post about the benefits of breastfeeding has gone viral [Photo: Facebook Mallory Smothers]
Experts have long been shouting about the benefits of breast milk. But one new mum who saw for herself just how amazing it can be has shared her discovery on Facebook and the picture has since gone viral.
When Mallory Smothers noticed her baby had developed what she assumed was a cold, she continued to nurse her little one through the night before expressing more milk in the morning. It was only when she compared the bag of new breast milk, next to an older one that the new mum from Arkansas noticed the striking difference.
While the older milk was nearly white in colour, the more recent one was more yellowish in tone, appearing to resemble the colostrum or ‘liquid gold’ mothers produce in the first few days after having a baby and that experts believe contains antibodies to help fight illness and infection.
Taking to Facebook to reveal her discovery, Mallory wrote:
‘I didn’t notice a difference until today. But look at how much more the milk I produced Friday resembles colostrum (the super milk full of antibodies and leukocytes you make during the first few days after birth), and this comes after nursing baby with a cold all night long.’
Many new mums might be concerned about the noticeable difference in colour of the milk and assume something was wrong, but Mallory had recently read some research which explained that a mum’s breast milk can alter so that it caters specifically to a baby’s needs.
The research, published in the journal Clinical & Translational Immunology, showed that infections in mums and infants cause a rapid rise of leukocytes (a type of white blood cell that helps fight infection) in breast milk. Once the infection is over, the leukocyte count then goes back to normal.
Experts have long been shouting about the benefits of breast milk. But one new mum who saw for herself just how amazing it can be has shared her discovery on Facebook and the picture has since gone viral.
When Mallory Smothers noticed her baby had developed what she assumed was a cold, she continued to nurse her little one through the night before expressing more milk in the morning. It was only when she compared the bag of new breast milk, next to an older one that the new mum from Arkansas noticed the striking difference.
While the older milk was nearly white in colour, the more recent one was more yellowish in tone, appearing to resemble the colostrum or ‘liquid gold’ mothers produce in the first few days after having a baby and that experts believe contains antibodies to help fight illness and infection.
Taking to Facebook to reveal her discovery, Mallory wrote:
‘I didn’t notice a difference until today. But look at how much more the milk I produced Friday resembles colostrum (the super milk full of antibodies and leukocytes you make during the first few days after birth), and this comes after nursing baby with a cold all night long.’
Many new mums might be concerned about the noticeable difference in colour of the milk and assume something was wrong, but Mallory had recently read some research which explained that a mum’s breast milk can alter so that it caters specifically to a baby’s needs.
The research, published in the journal Clinical & Translational Immunology, showed that infections in mums and infants cause a rapid rise of leukocytes (a type of white blood cell that helps fight infection) in breast milk. Once the infection is over, the leukocyte count then goes back to normal.
0 coment�rios: