“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” – Helen Keller.
Under the banner of ‘Working Together to Sustain Breast-feeding’,
this is the theme of this year’s International Breastfeeding Week (1 – 7
August).
The trend is to go back to
breastfeeding – something your own mother may not have done in the 70’s and
80’s. This may have been because the marketing of formula was so good that
women believed that artificial feeding was better than breast milk and that
only women who couldn’t afford formula, breastfed.
International Breastfeeding Week
was started in 1992 to encourage breastfeeding and to improve the overall
health of babies around the world. This
week, 170 countries (including South Africa) will celebrate
breast feeding.
Is breastfeeding doable?
- Women who are serious about breastfeeding start preparing during pregnancy. This means having the right mindset to breastfeed, and talking to her girlfriends already wearing the T-shirt, how to get it right.
- Today we know the importance of the first ‘magic hour’ after the birth. It’s when baby is most alert and will look for the mother’s nipple when left on her abdomen. The baby’s primitive crawling instinct will help him/her to propel him/herself towards the mother’s breast and home in to the nipple in his/her own time and pace. This helps to establish bonding and breastfeeding.
- When the baby learns to latch correctly, breastfeeding problems i.e. cracked nipples, engorged breasts or ‘not enough milk’, can be prevented.
- During the first few days after birth, the baby is breastfed every two to three hours to help mom and baby learn breastfeeding techniques. During this time, the baby feeds on colostrum – a highly concentrated form of breast milk. One teaspoonful of this ‘magic milk’ satisfies baby’s appetite, helps to clear the gut of meconium (baby’s first poo), that in turn helps to prevent/manage jaundice, lines the gut to help prevent allergies, and helps to establish the immune system.
- While baby is a new born (first six weeks) mom should eat a healthy diet with lots of liquids, and rest/relax when baby sleeps.
- Breastfeeding facilities should be provided at malls, and mothers should not be made to feel uncomfortable when breastfeeding in public.
- In the ideal world, the workplace would provide nurseries for mom’s returning to work. Or at the very least, a comfortable, secluded room to express their milk and store it in a small fridge.
- Breastfeeding mothers need support and encouragement from her spouse, friends and family, doctor, clinic sister and the public in general.
The plus-side to breastfeeding:
Breast-milk
contains EVERYTHING a baby needs in the first six months of life. This includes
good microbes that constantly replenishes the baby’s immature immune system and
protects him/her from infections and other illnesses.
Colostrum is the
‘super-food’ of the new born. This super-concentrated ‘first milk’ is low in
fat, high in carbohydrates and protein and easily digested by the new-born.
The nutritional
and immunological makeup of breast-milk changes every day according to the
baby’s needs. Fed straight from the breast, the milk is sterile and at the
right temperature.
The more often a
new-born is fed in the first two weeks of life, the better the mother’s milk supply
will be.
Women also burn
at least 1,000 calories a day by breastfeeding. This helps her to lose the
extra kilograms gained during pregnancy.
