Medicina Tradicional y Naturopatía Clínica

Abstracto

Breast Feeding- An Ayurveda Perceptive

Karam Singh and Bhavna Verma

It is widely recognized that breastfeeding is the best nutrition for human infants. Breast milk is the optimal food for almost all infants in the first year of life. The breast milk provides numerous health benefits to both mother and baby. Breastfeeding should begin soon after birth. It is important that infants open their mouth wide enough when breastfeeding to grasp the nipple and the areola (pigmented circle around the nipple). Breastfeeding is the best way to care for new child. Besides the overwhelming bonding it creates, breast milk is also the perfect food for them. Likewise in Ayurvedic texts, formation of stanya (breast milk), causes of stanya pravriti (or milk ejection), dhatri (wetnurse), dhatri-pariksha (examination of wet-nurse), stanapan-vidhi (breast feeding), stanyasampat (merits of breasts), stanyanasha hetu (causes of cessation of milk formation), stanyaviridhi dravyas (drugs increasing quantity of milk), stanya apanayakala (weaning period), abnormalities of breast-milk and its treatment etc. are discussed in detail.