 Everybody, Dr. O, this is where we're going to talk about breast milk. So we'll just look at some of the basic benefits of breast milk. It can be a very, very good source of nutrition for the baby. It also has a passive immunity. If you look at moms being exposed to things, mom's immune system is generating antibodies to whatever mom is being exposed to. And then all five classes of antibodies, IgG, A, M, E, and D, all pass in through the baby in a form of passive immunity in breast milk. Breast milk also has HMOs, about 200 of them. They're called human milk oligosaccharides, which means mom is producing these oligosaccharides, these medium-change carbohydrates, that are there to feed the baby's microbiome. So not only is breast milk probiotic, because it has living organisms in it, to seed the microbiome of the new baby, but it also is a prebiotic, which means it's feeding the good microbes as well. So there are advantages to the baby from an immunity standpoint, there are advantages to the baby potentially from a nutritional standpoint, and there are advantages to the baby from a microbiological microbiome standpoint, that's the reason that breast milk is important. For mom, breastfeeding and the increases in oxytocin that occur during it will also help with uterine contractions to bring the uterus back to its pre-pregnancy size, and then also mom will burn around 400 calories a day producing breast milk, which can help some mother return to pre-pregnancy weight. So those are kind of the real quick overview of the importance of breast milk, but let's look at the fact that during the final weeks of pregnancy, the breasts are filling with colostrum, this human colostrum, which is only going to be produced the first 48, 72 hours after delivery, maybe three ounces of it is made a day, but that's going to be plenty, because as you can see here, colostrum, high in protein, higher than regular breast milk, much higher in immunoglobulin, so babies get in a real big dose of immunity. From mom, those first few days, lower in fat, but again from nutritional standpoint, I think the key thing with colostrum is the immunoglobulin, the fact that this baby is getting a huge boost of passive immunity from mom, thinking of it like an antibody therapy, which can protect their GI tract and then hopefully their entire body. So that's going to be colostrum, and then you're going to see after those first few days postpartum, you're going to see a transition into what's, you know, your mature human breast milk, which will probably occur around day 10. So from day three to day 10, you see this transitional period, and now you're at regular human breast milk. The average woman is supposed to be able to produce about one and a half liters of milk per day, but of course that doesn't always happen. Some people can't produce that much, some people can't produce any at all, others produce a tremendous amount. A woman should be able to continue lactating as long as she wants. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for up to 27 months, but a woman should potentially be able to continue breastfeeding as long as she wants, but it only takes about a week of not breastfeeding for the process to shut down. So human breast milk compared to that colostrum, lower in immunoglobulins, but still has immunoglobulin, so the baby is still getting that passive immunity from mom, but not as much as it was before. Cow's milk, it's not a supplement for breast milk. What else? So we'll cover the let down reflex and actual the suckling and lactation in a separate video, but when milk is being produced, you see two different kinds of milk. One comes out when a baby is breastfeeding is called four milk and it's going to be a lot more watery and it's going to be mainly to help the babies get satisfied or thirst. Then you're going to have the hind milk that's going to be, it's going to be more for the baby's appetite, higher in fat, so you see like this watery early milk called four milk and then you have hind milk, but usually if a baby feeds until they're full, they should get all of it anyways. Benefits of breastfeeding, another benefit is that breast milk does have a bit of laxative effect and it's important to clear out the GI tract of a newborn baby because of that potentially the meconium, if some of that's in their GI tract, getting that out of there and also young babies have a real hard time with bilirubin, so getting that cleared out is very important. So the laxative effects of breast milk are also important. Those are just a couple of things, we talk in class about pros and cons of breastfeeding and then whether it's possible for everyone. There's certainly no shame here at all, but I do think if you were to ask me, should breastfeeding be the number one option if possible, yes, mainly because of the passive immunity that mom can give part of her immune system to her baby while it's developing, that's pretty awesome. And number two, the probiotic and prebiotic effects are going to help your baby have the healthiest microbiome possible. All right, that's just a quick overview of breast milk and why it's important, hope this helps, have a wonderful day, be blessed.