How Mothers Can Build Baby's Immune System
Breastfeeding Decreases Allergy Illnesses Such as Asthma and Eczema
Oct 30, 2009
The immune system of a newborn human infant is underdeveloped and the productions of most antibodies does not begin until a few months after birth. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies from the mother’s immune system can cross the placenta’s barrier into the fetus’s blood, giving the newborn some passive immunity.
How Can Breastfeeding Help Develop a Baby’s Immune System?
A healthy developing immune system is very important for a newborn baby entering a much more exposed world. Immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies are received through the mother’s breast milk. This is important because most pathogens that enter a baby's body enter by the mouth and nose and travel to the stomach and intestines, causing diarrhea and gastric upset. By drinking antibody-rich breast milk, the antibodies are delivered to the stomach and intestines where they coat the baby’s gastrointestinal tract and clean up any pathogens.
This is one reason why breastfeeding is important for a baby's overall health. Children who were breastfed as infants are thought to have stronger immune systems and suffer fewer allergy related illnesses such as hay fever, asthma and eczema.
How Does A Mother Produce the Right Antibodies For Her Baby?
A mother’s immune system produces many types of antibodies due to being exposed to a variety of antigens on pathogens throughout her life. A baby does not require all of these antibodies, but needs specific ones against pathogens that do get inside the body and on the skin and attack its fledgling immune system.
In fact, there is actually a medical reason why mothers kiss their babies. It’s a natural tendency even for animals, though if you’ve watched a mother cat, dog, goat or horse with their infants, it looks more as if they are licking them. When a mother kisses her baby, her body gets a sample of the pathogens that may be on the baby’s skin and the ones that likely get into the baby’s body.
These pathogens are then taken into the mother’s body by the act of kissing and sent to her secondary lymphoid organs such as the tonsils. The mother’s memory B cells recognize these pathogens from the baby and produces antibodies against them. These made-to-order antibodies specific for the baby are then produced by B cells in the mother’s breasts . The antibodies are excreted through breast milk directly to the baby, boosting the infant's immune system with exactly the type of antibodies required for protection.
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Reference:
Jackson, Mark: Allergy, The History of a Modern Malady. Reaktion Books Ltd. London UK, 2006
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