Prenatal nursing care is essential! Breastfeeding: focus on maternal health

Abstract

This article deals with the importance and necessity of breastfeeding for both mother and baby. The timeliness of this topic has been brought about by technological advances, which imposes its own rules and offers alternatives in which it seems much easier to neglect the main maternal responsibility – the role of the breastfeeding mother. One gets the feeling that scientific research into breast milk is limited to finding evidence of the benefits of breastfeeding to convince novice mothers to breastfeed. The article mentions the evolutionary significance of breastfeeding, explains the reasons for the mammary glands “suffering” if the only “evolutionarily assigned” function for this female organ is not implemented, which makes us look at the need for natural breastfeeding from a different angle. Evidence of the need for breastfeeding to prevent the development of breast cancer that has high mortality rates in the female population is presented. At the same time, the issue of malignant tumours is not limited only to the mammary glands. The role of the breast milk microbiota disorders in the formation of the above processes is discussed. The preventive role of breastfeeding in the development of metabolic disorders, cardiovascular and endocrine diseases in women has been shown. The article presents data on this issue from numerous clinical studies, reviews and meta-analyses. The emphasis was placed on the prenatal discussions with pregnant women about the importance and necessity of breastfeeding, which should be carried out at the stage of preparing women for childbirth. The question has been raised about the role of the local paediatrician in the prenatal nursing care for women. It explains why “early” acquaintance with the mother is far from being an additional needless burden for the local paediatrician, as it might seem at first glance, but rather, on the contrary, additional opportunities.