It was one of the more shameful chapters of conventional
medicine when, for many decades, physicians actively discouraged
women from breastfeeding. Fortunately, by the 1970s, the poor
judgment inherent in this recommendation had become abundantly
clear. Today, there is no longer any doubt regarding what should
have been obvious from the beginning: that human breast milk is
the ideal food for a human infant. Not only does breast milk
contain all the necessary nutrients, it contains additional
substances such as that provide important health benefits. In
addition, human breast milk lacks allergenic substances found in
infant formulas based on cow or soy milk. For this reason,
breastfeeding, as opposed to formula feeding, may reduce the
risk of the infant developing allergy-related diseases such as
However, nursing can also cause difficulties for the mother of a
newborn. Milk flow may be insufficient, the breasts may become
inflamed or infected, and when it comes time to stop nursing,
there may be an interval of