Infant formula contains no immunological properties to help safeguard a baby from infection. Breast milk, on the other hand, is concentrated with white blood cells and antibodies that fight disease.
"The essence of what breastfeeding provides is immune protection," says Dr. Alicia Dermer, MD, IBCLC, and clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. "A mother breathes in whatever bacteria or viruses are around and then makes antibodies specific to her environment, and that are especially tailored to her baby. That is how one mother's milk might be different from another's.
"The longer mom breastfeeds, the more benefits she and the baby get," says Tammy Arberter, CD, IBCLC, and a lactation consultant at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. "The World Health Organization
recommends that women breastfeed for the first year and then continue for as long as it is mutually desired by Mommy and Baby. If you do that, you are going to get maximum benefits."
