Human milk is the best food for newborns, even if they are small, premature or sick. Breastfeeding improves infant survival, health and development. It is also associated with better neurodevelopmental outcomes and less obesity, hypertension and insulin resistance in adolescence, among many other benefits.
In low birth weight infants, not only is the dose of milk important, but also the time they receive it, and the source (ideally, from their own mother). Small increases in HM supply in the first 14 days of life reduce the number of hospitalizations by one year of life and the number of specialized treatments by the age of two years.
Both mother and baby benefit from the closeness that occurs during breastfeeding, as it fosters attentive and sensitive care and mutual acquaintance.
It is an inexpensive and sustainable food that benefits society as a whole, specifically adapted for babies, at a time when stimuli condition their proper development.
