Both babies and moms can benefit from breastfeeding since it boosts their overall health while strengthening the mother-baby bond.

That's one of the key themes that Madigan Army Medical Center lactation consultants like Maria Walden are trying to get across during the World Breastfeeding Week, which ends today. This year's overall focus is to support women who work and breastfeed.

People who were breastfed experience life-long benefits, said Walden.

"It changes us from the beginning of our life through our lifespan; it changes us at the cellular level," she said. "It changes who we are, because we are what we eat."

Breastfeeding is tied to improving babies' immune systems, such as experiencing fewer respiratory illnesses, gastrointestinal illnesses, and ear infections.

Walden explained that since people's digestive systems are perfectly designed to accept the human milk protein, and are not designed to use cow milk protein (or formula milk), then there are going to be some issues digesting it.

"It's less than optimal. It's adequate, but it's less than optimal," said Walden. She was quick to point out that the lactation consultants are not telling mothers that they're doing a bad job when they feed their babies formula. However, when given a choice she believes that breastfeeding is the best way to feed babies.

The skin-on-skin interaction that happens when moms breastfeed their babies also helps to lower the rates of sudden infant death syndrome, said Walden.

"The baby hears the mother's heartbeat and breathing, and it's a SIDS protection. It helps the baby remember to breathe," she said. "It's the baby's natural habitat. In other words, the baby comes from here hearing all of those sounds, and expects to come out and hear those same sounds."

In addition, breastfeeding can change moms' responsiveness to their babies. Again, Walden pointed out that formula-feeding moms are still attentive to their babies; however, breastfeeding moms tend to pick up on more of the subtle nuances of their babies since they feed them (and thus have them close) more often since breast milk is digested faster than formula.

Moms who breastfeed are healthier themselves, too.

"We know that mothers are healthier when they breastfeed. They're designed to use the hormones given to them to create milk. When they don't use them, they have a higher incidence of breast cancer," said Walden.

Since breastfeeding burns more calories, breastfeeding moms also tend to lose their baby weight faster. They tend to recover more quickly, so moms who are Soldiers may be back to full-time work faster and passing their physical fitness tests sooner as well, said Walden.