babies

The Wonders Of Breast Feeding

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Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds writes:

The Wonders of Breastfeeding
Commemorating World Breastfeeding Week

While breastfeeding has been an instinct and ability to many women post-pregnancy for millennia, many are unaware of the biophysical wonder that this process entails. In an attempt to call attention to the benefits of breastfeeding, August 1–7 has been designated as World Breastfeeding Week: a campaign led by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) and supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The official theme for 2026 is: “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works”, emphasizing the link between long-term health and the practice of breastfeeding.

Editorial: Human milk, nutrition and infant development, volume II (Francisco Perez Cano, Frontiers in Nutrition and Metabolism, 16 March 2026). Breastfeeding is much more than just an instinct. This article explores the scientific marvels of breastfeeding, its benefits for both infants and mother, and the inadequacy of evolutionary explanations for its complexity.

Interesting Facts About Breastmilk
Comparing Humans with other Mammals

Mammals are defined by their ability to produce milk, and this trait is nearly universal across the class. There are about 6,500 recognized mammalian species, and virtually all of them produce milk to nourish their young. Among human populations in the USA, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that around 85% of babies are breastfed, but only 25% are exclusively breastfed through 6 months.

Breast milk is also one of the few foods in nature that can be described as nutritionally complete for the young of its kind. It contains proteins for growth, fats for brain development, carbohydrates for energy, vitamins and minerals for metabolic balance, and bioactive compounds that regulate immunity and digestion. This completeness underscores its role as the “gold standard” of infant nutrition.

While humans are among those classified as mammalian species given their lactation abilities, human breastmilk is distinct among mammals because it is specialized for slow, brain-centred growth rather than rapid physical development. It contains much less protein than cow’s milk, protecting infants’ kidneys while still meeting nutritional needs.

Its higher whey-to-casein ratio makes it easier to digest, and it delivers a full suite of immune factors (including antibodies, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), and living cells) that actively shape the infant’s microbiome and immune system. HMOs are a distinctive feature, as these complex sugars feed beneficial gut bacteria, block pathogens from binding to intestinal cells, and help train the immune system. In contrast, calves and lamb milk are denser in protein and fat, reflecting their need for fast growth and early mobility.

Another key difference lies in mineral bioavailability: although human milk has fewer minerals overall, they are absorbed more efficiently in human infants than those in cow’s milk. Human milk also contains tailored fatty acids such as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid: An omega-3 fatty acid critical for brain and eye development) and ARA (arachidonic acid: An omega-6 fatty acid that is essential for cell membrane structure, immune signaling, and growth, proportioned for optimal brain and eye development). In contrast, other mammals’ milk lacks active immune cells.

More Wonders of Human Breast Milk

One of the most astonishing features of breastfeeding is the breast’s ability to adjust both the volume and composition of milk according to the baby’s age, stage, and even health status. Scientific studies have shown that during feeding, tiny amounts of the baby’s saliva can flow back into the breast ducts. This process is known as retrograde milk flow, and it allows the mother’s body to “read” the infant’s immune status and tailor antibodies, white blood cells, and other protective factors in the milk.

Ongoing research into the unique properties of breastmilk continues to reveal new insights into just how important this production is for health. In a recent article titled: The human breast milk microbiome: a landscape review of its composition, origins, and impact on infant health (Rumiana Koynova-Tenchov), Archives of Microbiology. (22 June 2026), the unique microbiome systems from breastmilk, is described as “one of the earliest and most consequential sources of microbial colonization in the infant gut.” The consequences of missing these microbiomes are described as follows by the author:

“Disruptions to this microbial community have been associated with conditions such as infant colic, atopic disease, and obesity.”

These observations show that breastmilk is a highly responsive engineering architecture, as it signals the existence of a feedback loop between mother and child. While many animals produce milk, the adaptive immune tailoring through backflow is most clearly documented in humans. Although in animals, milk composition also changes across lactation stages, the fine-tuned immunological dialogue observed in human breastfeeding appears unique.

But how did such amazing engineering originate?

The Evolutionary Story of Breastmilk

From an evolutionary perspective, the story is that milk production originated in early synapsids (an ancient group of vertebrates thought to include all modern mammals and their extinct relatives defined by a distinctive skull feature: a single temporal opening behind the eye socket). According to the evolutionary timeline, this was over 200 million years ago. The theory goes that breastmilk production began as a skin secretion that kept eggs moist and protected, and that, over time, this secretion became nutritionally enriched, eventually evolving into true lactation. This adaptation is said to have allowed mammals to provide a consistent, internal food source, freeing them from dependence on external environments and giving their offspring a survival advantage.

Evolutionary literature also tries to explain the divergence in milk composition among mammals as having arisen through natural selection acting on offspring survival strategies. Human milk is said to have evolved to support slow growth, prolonged dependency, and intensive brain development, reflecting evolutionary pressures favouring long-term survival and cognitive capacity in a species with extended childhood. For other mammals, evolutionary literature teaches that milk composition diverged as a direct response to ecological pressures and life-history strategies, with each lineage optimizing lactation for its young’s developmental priorities.

However, in the context of the complexities of breastmilk, these evolutionary explanations raise many unanswered questions and concerns, including:

How does appealing to selection pressures account for the origins of breastmilk? (The fact is: There can be no selection without there being something to select from.)

How could the complexity and universality of milk across mammals have arisen by chance?

The precise tailoring of milk composition to each species’ developmental needs is far more reasonably interpreted as evidence of purposeful creation rather than evolutionary trial and error.

Benefits for Mothers

As much as breastfeeding is beneficial for infants, the benefits to the mother should not be overlooked, as it profoundly impacts maternal health. Among the benefits include the release of oxytocin during nursing stimulates uterine contractions, which helps the uterus return to its pre-pregnancy size and reducing postpartum bleeding. The energy demands of milk production contribute to gradual weight loss, aiding mothers in regaining their pre-pregnancy body composition.

Long-term benefits are equally significant. Women who breastfeed, especially beyond age 30, show reduced risks of breast and ovarian cancers. The protective effect is thought to arise from hormonal regulation and reduced lifetime exposure to estrogen. Breastfeeding also lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, making it a preventive health measure for mothers as well as a nurturing act for infants.

Breastfeeding and Sustainability

Given the mutual benefits between mother and child, the 2026 theme of World Breastfeeding Day is appropriate, emphasizing sustainability. After all, in addition to its biological benefits, breastfeeding is a natural, renewable resource requiring no additional packaging, no transportation, and no industrial processing.  In a world grappling with resource scarcity, and health inequities, breastfeeding therefore stands out as a practice that surpasses synthetic options in both quality and sustainability. While some mothers face constraints in breastfeeding and must rely on alternatives, we also celebrate the fact that breastmilk offers a template for continuous improvement of alternatives available.

Blessings in the Bosom

It is amazing that scientists continue to discover new benefits of breastfeeding as an age-old practice. In breastfeeding we see God’s providence embodied, as the adaptive intelligence of breast milk, its completeness, and its protective power testify to divine wisdom.

As we celebrate World Breastfeeding Week 2026, we are invited to marvel at this gift, to strengthen the systems that support it, and to honour the God who designed it. Breastfeeding is indeed a glimpse of divine love expressed through the bond between mother and child.

One Person Makes A Difference

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You could be the “one person” who makes a difference. Although this article is written for pastors, it applies to every single follower of Jesus.

From Focus on the Family

ONE PASTOR MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Helpful Articles: Ministry Issues

Pastor Lee holding a babyBy Jim Daly

Picture this scene: it is the middle of the night, and the doorbell rings. A weary man stumbles to the door and opens it. There is no one standing on the front step. But when he looks down, he sees a small bundle in a cardboard box. Instinctively, he brings it inside and opens it. Wrapped inside a blanket is a tiny newborn baby, almost frozen by the mid-December cold.

This is the scenario that played out in a poor urban neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea several years ago—on the doorstep of a pastor named Lee Jong-rak. The baby, which suffered from physical disabilities, had been surrendered by a desperate unwed mother, under the cover of night, in the hope that the child would find a safe refuge in Pastor Lee’s home.

As gripping as this story is, it actually begins many years earlier, with the birth of Pastor Lee’s own son, Eun-man. The child was born with crippling cerebral palsy, leaving his body deformed and making him dependent upon his parents for constant care. His condition was so serious that Pastor Lee, along with his wife and their young daughter, essentially spent the first 14 years of Eun-man’s life in the hospital with him, waiting for the day when they could take him home.

During those years in the hospital, in addition to caring for Eun-man, Pastor Lee reached out to many other physically challenged kids. Over time, he took in several orphans from the hospital. By the time he was able to move Eun-man and the rest of his growing family back home, his reputation as a loving and compassionate shepherd was firmly established. It was this reputation that compelled a frightened young mother to surrender her baby on his front step on that cold December night.

With the problem of child abandonment growing throughout Seoul (on average, more than 200 babies are abandoned on the streets there every year), Pastor Lee knew something had to be done. So he installed a “baby box” on the side of his home as a way for desperate young mothers to anonymously and safely surrender their children. A sign posted above the box bears Psalm 27:10: “For my father and mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” Since installing the box in 2009, more than 600 babies have been surrendered into Pastor Lee’s care.

Can you relate to Pastor Lee’s story? As a pastor, you provide that same level of love and care. Your circumstances might look different, but you nevertheless invest in the lives of those around you with the same spirit of Christ-like love.

Like Pastor Lee, you’ve probably received one of those midnight knocks on your front door, or maybe a phone call or a text, from someone in crisis. Perhaps the issue isn’t an abandoned baby. It might be someone who has just discovered their spouse is having an affair, or who has lost their job, or been diagnosed with cancer, or experienced the sudden death of a loved one.

And like Pastor Lee, you have challenges of your own at home. Maybe not a child with cerebral palsy, but challenges nonetheless—things that require your love and time and attention, and that have the potential to drain your already dwindling reserves of energy. Even so, when a member of your congregation has a need, you make time, you make room. You sacrifice.

As a pastor, you are available—to care, to admonish, to shepherd, to teach, to listen. This is a gift to your flock and a powerful example to a watching world of authentic, Christ-like love and service. There are likely days when you feel overlooked and unappreciated, but please know that we here at Focus are praying for you as you minister the love of Christ in your community. Thank you! May we never take you and your work for granted.

If you want to learn more about Pastor Lee, I hope you and your congregation will make plans to attend The Drop Box, Focus on the Family’s new documentary film appearing in movie theaters nationwide for three nights only, March 3, 4, and 5. The power of this story is such that the director of The Drop Box, Brian Ivie, actually committed his life to Christ during the making of the film!

Watch this video clip to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how we plan to share Pastor Lee’s story: http://youtu.be/TA-G9kQMzJY.

For theaters and showtimes, as well as resources to help you promote this important movie at your church, visit www.TheDropBoxFilm.com.

Lifesitenews: What Babies Do Before They Are Born

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When we read in Psalm 139 “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb”, this is what it’s talking about. Awesome article from Lifesitenews

10 mind-blowing things that happen to babies before they’re born

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With today’s modern technology and medical information, we have a real-time window into the womb. What happens to babies before birth – all the ways they move, grow, and change – is nothing short of amazing.

Here are just 10 things that happen to babies before birth. These 10 things demonstrate their uniqueness, value, and of course, their humanity.

What’s more, each of these 10 things happen in the first trimester – when approximately 90% of abortions in the U.S. occur!

1) “On the first day following fertilization, the human embryo is identifiable as a specific individual human being on a molecular level.”

A South Dakota legislative task force, appointed to examine the science behind unborn life, found that “the new recombinant DNA technologies indisputably prove that the unborn child is a whole human being from the moment of fertilization, that all abortions terminate the life of a living human being, and that the unborn child is a separate human patient under the care of modern medicine.”

2) A Baby’s Heart Begins to Beat at 21 Days.

Here is a video of the baby’s heart beating at four weeks and four days, just a little over a week after it began beating.

According to The Endowment for Human Development, “(b)etween fertilization and birth, the heart beats approximately 54 million times…”

3) At 2 to 3 Weeks, a Baby’s Brain is the “First Organ to Appear.”

4) A Baby May Feel Physical Pain as Early as His Fifth Week.

After examining scientific resources and hearing medical testimony, the South Dakota Task Force found that “(the necessary pieces) for pain detection in the spinal cord exists at very early developmental stages.” Babies have also been documented moving away from unwanted or painful touch in their first few weeks of in utero life.

5) A Baby’s Kidneys are Present at Only 5 Weeks.

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A depiction of an unborn baby at about 10 weeks gestation

In fact, by eight weeks old, all of the baby’s organs are in place and only need to be fully developed.

6) A Baby’s Brainwaves Can be Measured at 6 Weeks Old.

See the brainwaves for yourself here.

7) At 6 Weeks, a Baby Will Move Away if His Mouth is Touched.

The Endowment for Human Development has a video of a six-week-old baby responding to touch here.

8) A Baby’s Ear Can Begin to be Seen Around 6 Weeks.

9) A Baby Has Fingerprints at 9-10 Weeks.

These fingerprints will be the same throughout the baby’s life. His permanent identification is already developing. Watch a video and see an unborn baby’s fingerprints here.

10) A Baby Can Suck Her Thumb and Yawn at 9 1/2 Weeks Old.

According to The Endowment for Human Development, most babies prefer their right thumb. At this age, plenty is going on. A baby’s vocal cords are forming, her bones are hardening, and her toenails and fingernails are emerging. See a video of a ten-week-old baby yawning here.

For more on prenatal development, go here.

Editor’s Note: The information here has, in large part, been studied and documented by The Endowment for Human Development (“a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health science education and public health” that has cooperated with National Geographic to put out a video about prenatal development) and The South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion.

Surrogacy or Trafficking

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There have been several very concerning news reports coming out lately about babies being ordered, gestated and born in Asia to parents from wealthy countries.

A few months ago, an Australian couple took home a baby girl but rejected her twin, a boy with Down’s Syndrome. The boy was left for the Thai mother to care for. Clearly the intent was that they didn’t want the inconvenience of a baby with obvious imperfections. It turned out that the adoptive father had previous convictions for abusing little girls.

About the same time there was the report of a wealthy Japanese business man who had fathered literally dozens of babies through a surrogacy agency, again in Thailand. It was never explained why he needed to have so many children.

Last night there was a report of an episode from 2012 where Australian parents took home one twin and left the other in India because the baby was the wrong gender.

So babies are now just another consumer item which you can buy.

Many Western countries have outlawed what is called commercial surrogacy which is an agreement for a woman to be paid to bear a child on behalf of someone who is unable to have children themselves. So infertile couples are turning to developing countries and, often through commercial agencies, paying healthy but poor mothers to have babies for them.

This is just repugnant on so many levels. It treats human beings- both the mother and the baby- as no more than economic units, a factory and a product. You pay a price and effectively buy yourself a baby.

When human beings are bought and sold like this it devalues all humanity.

When babies become commodities the potential for abuse is infinite. Even when regulations are in place, in many countries they are not enforced or will be ignored by bribing officials.

It’s not hard to imagine babies being mass produced for paedophiles to abuse and for pornography.

We kill babies who are inconvenient in the name of choice. We procure babies on the open market in the name of choice.

If this isn’t human trafficking, slavery by another name, I don’t know what else it is.