Breastfeeding is a mother’s personal choice that is influenced by many factors. I had made the decision to breastfeed my son before his birth-I was encouraged by doctors, literature, and my family. I made this choice primarily because I knew it would benefit his health-breastmilk is the best nutrition for the first 6 months of life, it provides nutrients, vitamins, and the baby receives antibodies from its mother that help promote immune system development. What I did not know was that breastfeeding sounds a lot easier than it sounds! At first it was extremely painful (I considered giving up) and then when I returned to work I met with the challenge of pumping milk-but still I continued on, determined to breastfeed my son for at least one year. I felt that the benefits outweighed any of my personal discomfort and I found breastfeeding is a very rewarding bonding experience (in fact, my son is not yet fully weaned and I am actually saddened by the thought that soon he will be!).
However, not all mothers can breastfeed and not all mothers choose to breastfeed. Whether for personal of medical reasons, the mother’s choice should be respected. Breastfeeding was a personal choice and I am a strong advocate for breastfeeding and its importance early on.
Research shows that it is extremely beneficial for the mother to breastfeed their infant within the first hour after birth, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first 6 months, and then continued breastfeeding is suggested until the age of 2 (UNICEF, November 2009). Breastfeeding can not only foster healthy development but can prevent malnutrition and possibly death. While I was well-informed and encouraged to breastfeed my son, many mothers in other parts of the world are not. I wanted to share what I found because I thought that it was extremely interesting and shows how public health impacts development.
In Cambodia, early initiation of breastfeeding and breastfeeding itself has only been recently encouraged. Cambodia has high levels of child malnutrition and infant mortality-in 2000, 45% of children under the age of 5 were malnourished (PRB 2003). Also in 2000, only 11% of infants 0-5 months old were exclusively breastfed (although others were breastfed, they were also given water and/or other liquids, which is not recommended and can actually be harmful for the baby).
One of the reasons that this occurred was because women were not being informed of the importance of exclusive breastfeeding and the benefits of breastfeeding in general were not known. It is also suggested that mothers may have been under the impression that formula was more beneficial and were not encouraged to breastfeed by their doctors before or after giving birth. It was also a common occurrence that babies were given water during hotter times and that they were introduced to solid foods earlier than recommended (PRB 2003). All of these factors are harmful for an infant’s development-infants need the nutrients provided in breastmilk to grow and weaning them too early may have a negative impact on their health and/or development.
Fortunately, a public health initiative was launched in Cambodia to help increase awareness and knowledge about breastfeeding. This initiative included “support to health systems and community-based programs” as well as the use of media (Conkle, 2007). Training health care workers in the importance and techniques of breastfeeding allowed them to pass the knowledge on to mothers. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative was also launched in Cambodia by WHO and UNICEF. This initiative is designed to make hospitals “baby-friendly,” meaning that the hospital “does not accept free or low-cost breastmilk substitutes, feeding bottles or teats, and has implemented 10 specific steps to support successful breastfeeding” (UNICEF, August 2009). Community-based programs include mother-support groups and work with NGOs and other community based programs to increase the knowledge and support network, especially in rural areas. Lastly, the media campaign included TV and radio commercials and songs emphasizing the importance and benefits of breastfeeding (Conkle, 2007).
With this public health initiative, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in Cambodia increased-to 60% in 2005-and infant mortality rates decreased. I found this to be amazing-I love this story of how a public health initiative can bring such a positive change! Public health is related to child development in many ways, this is just one example. This shows although breastfeeding is a mother’s personal choice her choice is influenced by the context in which she lives. As a professional, this serves as a reminder of the power of knowledge-we are resources for the parents and families we work with and can help relay information to help them make informed decisions.
References:
Conkle, Joel. (2007, August). Exclusive Breastfeeding in Cambodia: An Analysis of Improvement from 2000-2005. Retrieved from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/969796/Exclusive-Breastfeeding-in-Cambodia-An-Analysis-of-Improvement-from-2000-to-2005.
Staff Members from Department of Planning and Health Information, Ministry of Health, the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia, and Population Reference Bureau.(2003, January). Cambodia Falls Short of Early Childhood Nutrition Goals. Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved from: http://www.prb.org/Articles/2003/CambodiaFallsShortofEarlyChildhoodNutritionGoals.aspx.
UNICEF. (2005). Statistics By Area/Child Nutrition. ChildInfo: Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women. Retrieved from: http://www.childinfo.org/breastfeeding_cambodia.html.
UNICEF. (2008, April 1). Mother Support Group Network promotes exclusive breastfeeding in Cambodia. Cambodia. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cambodia_43437.html.
UNICEF. (2009, August 12). The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Nutrition. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24806.html.
UNICEF. (2009, November). The Challenge. ChildInfo: Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women. Retrieved from: http://www.childinfo.org/breastfeeding_challenge.html.
Vachon, Michelle and Naren, Kuch. (2002, August 5-6). Mothers Duped by Milk Products, Officials Say. The Cambodia Daily. Retrieved from: http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/selected_features/milk.htm.
No comments:
Post a Comment