Nurse and midwife, Clare Byam-Cook on why you should give breastfeeding a try

Most mothers nowadays are aware that breast is best. Despite this, there are so many horror stories around about breast-feeding that some mothers decide not to attempt it and plan to bottle feed from the outset. Sometimes mothers are very glad that they made the decision to bottle feed, but others feel guilty and a failure for not doing ‘the best’ for their baby. It’s a great shame that breastfeeding is variously viewed as being difficult, time-consuming and painful – because it shouldn’t be like this.

Breast-feeding is easy if you get it right

Many mothers sail through breastfeeding right from the word go, finding it all blissfully easy. They can't understand how anyone could have a problem with such a natural aspect of mothering. However, some mothers do find it extremely difficult and they tend to be the ones who frighten mothers-to-be with their tales of woe. You’re much more likely to hear endless stories from your friends about all the things that went wrong than the things that went well – it makes for more dramatic news.

When it comes to breast-feeding all mothers should think positive

Assume that you’ll fall into the group of mothers who have absolutely no problems and that you and your baby will be able to enjoy all the benefits of breast-feeding.

Which are:

• Breast-feeding provides your baby with antibodies. These will help him resist infections during the first few months until he’s had time to build up his own immunity.
• Breast milk is designed for babies and is therefore the ideal milk to give.
• Breast milk is always at the right temperature for your baby.
• If there is a strong family history of allergies, breast-feeding can make all the difference between your baby developing allergies or avoiding them. This is because breast milk does not contain the cow's milk protein that is normally responsible for triggering off allergies.
• Breast milk is thought to help brain development in a young baby and improve health in later life. There are recent studies which show breast-fed babies are much less likely to develop illnesses such as cancer as adults.
• Your baby won’t suffer from illnesses such as gastro-enteritis, which can be caused by inefficient sterilising of bottle feeding equipment.
• Breastfeeding is free. You’ll save pounds every week.
• A breastfed baby will rarely become overweight – it’s much easier to over feed a bottle fed baby.
• It’s easy to travel with a breastfed baby – no bottles, no sterilising equipment, no heavy tins of formula milk.
• Breastfeeding helps speed up the return of the uterus to its pre- pregnancy state. So you’re more likely to regain your figure quickly.
• Babies love it; breastfeeding not only makes a mother feel warm and close to her baby, it also makes her feel that she's doing the best for her baby.

With all these good reasons, I would encourage all mothers at least to give breastfeeding a try. If you don't, you might always regret it.

Another factor to take into consideration is that, even if you decide not to breastfeed, your milk will still build up about four days after your baby is born. This means that you will then have to go through the pain of engorged breasts until your supply dries up. This can take several days. If you don't like breastfeeding you can stop at any stage, but at least you’ll know that you gave it up for a good reason.

NB. Although breast is best, most babies do perfectly well on formula milk. You should therefore not feel a failure if you can't manage to breastfeed or if you simply decide that you would rather bottle feed. The most important factor when it comes to feeding your baby is that he or she gets plenty of food, regardless of whether it's breast milk or formula milk.

For more information see Clare Byam-Cook’s book:‘What to expect when you’re breastfeeding….and what if you can’t’ published by Vermilion £7.99.