The short answer is "Yes, except in a very few circumstances."
When you are sick or exposed to an illness, your body's immune system produces antibodies to fight that illness to help you stay well or to help you to get well again. Those protective antibodies can pass into the breast milk and help keep the baby well or help the baby to get well, if he / she becomes sick. Babies who never receive breastmilk, can only rely upon their own immature immune systems to stay well or to recover from illness.
The circumstances in which the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) advises AGAINST babies breastfeeding are listed at the following link:
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/disease/
Please remember that whenever illness is in the home, it is a good idea to use good hand washing prior to caring for the baby.
No comments:
Post a Comment