A Continuation of Sorts...

This is a continuation, of sorts, of a topic that Vox bitches about and the Difster has blogged on.

My boss had a son born 6 weeks ago and my other coworker has one due in a week. One is breastfeeding and the other will do so as she has done with her other kids.

One of our engineering discussions ended up on the topic of the benefits of breastfeeding. I thought I was aware of all of them, but there is one that makes sense, should be appealing to all women and seems to be unknown.

Every time the baby feeds, about 200 calories of are transferred from the mother to the baby along with all the nutrients. That's about the equivalent of running for half an hour. Imagine running for half an hour, 6-8 times a day? Talk about a weight loss program!

My bosses wife has lost 30 pounds since the baby was born and "she eats like a horse". She's now at a lower weight then when she first got pregnant.

Suddenly the weight gain during pregnancy makes sense to me. The mother's body is gearing up a fat reserve to transfer to the child.

Another thing I didn't know is that in parts of Europe, girlfriends will nurse each other's babies if one will be out for long. They think nothing of it and studies have shown that the babies immune systems benefit from broader spectrum of antibodies that they are ingesting.