The Breast

Infant feeding is the result of a complex

interaction between infant nutritional demand
and maternal physiology. The physiological
basis of lactation is important in understanding
and facilitating successful breast feeding.
Despite increased awareness of the health
benefits of human milk, many women
discontinue breast feeding problems have an
identifiable physiological, rather than a
pathological, cause and are best addressed by
considering the interaction between the mother
and baby
Successful breastfeeding has nutritional,
emotional, development and economic
benefits. It can be argued that the nutrient
requirement of the infant is one of the best
understood areas of nutrition. Human milk,
however does not just provide the optimal
balance of nutrients in a form appropriate to
the development needs of the infant, it also
compensates for the immature digestive
capability and vulnerable immune status of
the neonate.