eli5: why isn’t formula milk just formulated to be better than breastmilk?
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Breast milk changes, depending on external factors. In hot weather, it will contain more water. It will contain antibodies to protect the child from disease.
edit: It’s carried at the perfect temperature, and [although it was originally considered sterile, it is now accepted that it contains its own biome of ‘healthy’ bacteria](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7231147/) which further enhance the baby’s health.
edit: Generally, the more your baby feeds, the more milk you will produce. However, there are also several factors which can prevent a woman producing enough milk, and in these situations, formula is a lot more convenient for most people than a wet nurse!
It’s with the mother all the time, not in a bag at home.
It’s free.
It helps mother and baby to bond.
Breastfeeding also helps to protect the mother from things like ovarian cancer.
It’s simply not possible to make formula milk able to do those things.
Feeding formula does allow other people to do the feeding, freeing up the mother to do other things, like sleep!
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