When I was single, I made a promise to myself to breastfeed my babies. I knew it was the most logical, natural and maternal thing to do. Now I have 2 children. Ael is now 9 years old and I breastfed her for one year and six months. Pete Isaac is still 2 years and 9 months old and I breastfed him for 2 years and 3 months. I’m glad I get to wear this rare badge of being a pure breastfeeding mom.

I saw my mother breastfeed my younger siblings. She always extolled the value of breastfeeding. For her, a bottle-fed baby could also suck on the porridge of a mother cow.

My university thesis was on “Antimicrobial activity of human breast milk against common pathogenic bacteria”. He was not very learned. Sincerely may be the correct term, because I embarked on it with the utmost sincerity.

If you have taken a topic in microbiology, you will have performed microbial assays on a routine basis. The principle is to grow certain bacteria and test a potential antimicrobial agent or antibiotic against the effectiveness of these bacteria. This is a basic procedure used by pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics. This can also be used to test the antibiotic effects of herbs or natural substances.

In my thesis, I tested the antimicrobial effects of human breast milk against common pathogenic (or disease-causing) bacteria. I believe I cultured 4 types of bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus (a causative factor for pimples and skin infections), Escherichia coli (responsible for diarrhea and other digestive system infections), Proteus vulgaris (causes urinary tract infection), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (causing agent of pneumonia).

I went to a slum and searched for a lactating mother who would be willing to be my source of human breast milk. I found a young mother nursing a very healthy looking baby. From my review of the related literature, I learned that first trimester breast milk offers the greatest protection against infection. My source of breast milk then was breastfeeding for three months. I had the correct source.

In the microbial assay, bacteria are grown in clear glass dishes called petri dishes. These dishes contain colorless and therefore transparent gelatin in which bacterial growth can be observed. You will be able to identify the type of bacteria by the color and shape of the colonies they form.

As standard operating procedure, I did hundreds of bacterial cultures, about 50 dishes for each type of bacteria. They were heated in an oven to a temperature conducive to growth. I remember seeing the colonies of bacteria on each plate. A careless mistake or an oversight by the mother could bring me pimples at the very least and pneumonia at worst.

The bacteria thrived happily, as evidenced by the ever-increasing diameter of the colonies. The diameter can be measured with a caliper as the plate and jelly are transparent.

Then came the exciting part. I put drops of breast milk in each of the hundreds of dishes. I then returned the dishes to the oven and eagerly awaited the result the next day.

Behold! The diameter of bacterial colonies was reduced in almost all dishes. I remember my advisor smiling happily as he looked at the plates. My counselor’s wife was breastfeeding at the time and my lab results were an encouragement to them as well. I blasted through my defense effortlessly.

I never manipulated the results. I just wanted to prove what I had suspected for so long: breast milk is best for babies.