Mother’s Milk a Miraculous Mixture
And We have enjoined upon man goodness towards his parents: His mother bore him by bearing strain upon strain, and his weaning was in two years: “[Hence, O man,] be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the eventual coming.” (Qur’an, 31:14)
Mother’s milk is a matchless compound created by Allah to meet the baby’s nutritional needs and protect it against possible infections. The balance of the nutriments in mother’s milk is at ideal levels and the milk is in the ideal form for the baby’s immature body. At the same time, the mother’s milk is also very rich in nutrients which accelerate the growth of brain cells and the development of the nervous system. 1 Artificial baby foods prepared with present-day technology cannot replace this miraculous food.
The list of advantages to the baby provided by mother’s milk is being added to every day. Research has shown that babies who are fed mother’s milk are particularly protected against infections concerning the respiratory and digestive systems. That is because the antibodies in mother’s milk provide a direct defence against infection. Other anti-infection properties of mother’s milk are that it provides a hospitable environment for “good” bacteria called “normal flora” thus constituting a barrier to harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites. Furthermore, it has also been established that there are factors in mother’s milk which arrange the immune system against infectious diseases and allow it to function properly. 2
Since the mother’s milk has been specially designed, it is the most easily digestible food for babies. Despite being nutritionally very rich, it is easily digested by the baby’s sensitive digestive system. Since the baby thus expends less energy on digestion, it is able to use that energy for other bodily functions, growth and organ development.
The milk of mothers who have had premature babies contains higher levels of fat, protein, sodium, chloride and iron to meet the baby’s needs. Indeed, it has been established that the functions of the eye develop better in premature babies fed on mother’s milk and that they perform better in intelligence tests. In addition, they also have a great many other advantages.
One of the ways in which mother’s milk is important to the development of the new-born baby is the fact that it contains omega-3 oil alpha linoleic acids. As well as being an important compound for the human brain and retina, it is also of great...