Abstract

IMPORTANCE OF STANPAN

Dr. Harshada Dipanshu Patange*, Dr. Sheetal Aggrawal Arora and Dr. Kalpana Dhuri

Abstract

Nourishment (Dehadharanam) and Growth (Dehavardhanam) are main factors when it comes to Newborns. As per food intake 3 stages have been defined. Exclusive Breastfeed (Kshirad), Breastfeed+ food intake (Kshirannad), Exclusive food intake (Annad). Going as per Samanya Vishesh Siddhantta, Breastfeeding helps to increase and nourishes Kapha, Oja, saptadhatu etc. It decreases vata and pitta. Milk is also said to nourish the mind (Manaskar), hence increasing it’s qualities like Guna, Tarka, Dhyana, Sankalpa and Buddhi. Breastfeeding helps in overall development of child. The breastmilk is result from the Ras Dhatu of mother hence extremely nourishing. WHO recommends mothers worldwide to exclusively breastfeed infants for the child& first six months to achieve optimal growth, development and health. The systematic review& findings suggest that exclusive breastfeeding of infants with only breast milk, and no other food source liquids, for six months has several advantages over exclusive breastfeeding for 3-4 months followed by mixed breastfeeding. These advantages include a lower risk of gastrointestinal infection for the baby, more rapid maternal weight loss after birth, and delayed return of menstrual periods. No reduced risks of other infections or of allergic diseases have been demonstrated. No adverse effects on growth have been documented with exclusive breastfeeding for six months. But a reduced level of iron has been observed in some developing country settings. WHO and UNICEF recommend: 1.early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth; 2.exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life; 3.introduction of nutritionally-adequate and safe complementary (solid) foods at 6 months together with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond. Recommendations have been refined to also address the needs for infants born to HIV-infected mothers. Antiretroviral drugs now allow these children to exclusively breastfeed until they are 6 months old and continue breastfeeding until at least 12 months of age with a significantly reduced risk of HIV transmission.

Keywords: Nourishment, rasdhatu, infection, Antiretroviral.