breastbone

breastfeeding The highly recommended practice of feeding an infant with the mother’s natural milk. Breast milk contains vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that aid the baby’s digestion, and immunity factors in breast milk can help infants fight off infections. Breast milk can be expressed, manually or with the assistance of a breast pump, for use while the mother is away, or breastfeeding and formulafeeding can be used together. The activity of breastfeeding has strong benefits for mothers as well as infants: It encourages the release of hormones that improve uterine muscle tone, and it may help to prevent breast cancer. The ability of the breast to produce milk diminishes soon after childbirth without the stimulation of breastfeeding. Also known as nursing. See also lactation.