Breastfeeding and Health Outcomes for the Mother and Infant: A Literature Review

Abstract

This study looked at the effects of nursing on the mother’s and baby’s health. Breastfeeding benefits mothers and babies. Breast milk provides the finest nutrition and growth for a newborn. Infants receive the best nourishment from breast milk. Strong evidence suggests that newborns who are breastfed have a lower chance of becoming overweight or obese than children. According to data from a meta-analysis, up to the age of 9 months, breastfeeding lowered the chance of being overweight by 4% every month. In this study, the usual protocol for systematic literature reviews was used. It took place between November 2022 and January 2023. This was based on published content found in the e-resources Academic Search Complete, Global Health, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), Scopus, and MEDLINE Web of Knowledge. In addition, this was supplemented by looking through the reference lists of the papers that were selected for evaluation. The evaluation of both the qualitative and quantitative study was carried out with the assistance of the tools provided by the effective public health practice project and the critical appraisal skills program. The search strategy produced a total of 150 studies. Twenty different studies were taken into consideration for the assessment once the selection technique was put into practice. These studies demonstrate the advantages of exclusive breastfeeding for both moms and newborns. For the mother’s health as well, breastfeeding is beneficial. Numerous studies have suggested that some cancer-like illnesses do not harm mothers because they breastfeed their children. If children had received enough breast milk, their growth and development would be excellent.