Background
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) both recommend exclusive breastfeeding until an infant is at least 6 months of age.
Breast milk is composed of many essential substances for optimal growth and development, including carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The bioactive functions of the proteins in breast milk are especially important during critical periods of brain, gut, and immune development. As a result, breastfed babies have lower rates of otitis media as well as respiratory and intestinal infections. In addition to these short-term benefits, there are many long-term advantages to breastfeeding, including improved cognitive development and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that mothers also benefit from breastfeeding, with favorable maternal metabolic changes including lower rates of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and cardiovascular disease. Moreover, some studies show that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Despite these overwhelming benefits for both mother and baby, the rates of breastfeeding are still not optimal. Clinicians play a crucial role in a mother’s decision to breastfeed as well as her success in lactation. Informing women of the evidence that breast milk contributes to both a baby’s short- and long-term well-being as well as its potential health benefits for the mother, clinicians can help them understand its importance. To effectively counsel and educate mothers, it is essential that clinicians be familiar with how the mammary gland produces human milk and how its properties nourish and protect the breastfeeding infant.
This article reviews the development of the mammary gland (mammogenesis), the process through which the mammary gland develops the capacity to secrete milk (lactogenesis), the process of milk production (lactation), and the specific properties of human milk that make it unique and appropriate for human infants. In a related article titled Counseling the Breastfeeding Mother, the mechanics of breastfeeding and evaluation of the breastfeeding mother-infant dyad are discussed. Such articles are intended to be overviews. For a more in-depth treatise, please refer to textbooks by Lawrence and Lawrence (2005)
and the AAP’s Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians (2006).
Guidelines for breastfeeding and the use of human milk have been established by the AAP.
For patient education resources, see the Pregnancy Center and Breastfeeding.