Mothers And Breast Feeding

Tina, a 25-year old model, is apprehensive about marriage for one reason; she dreads losing her beautiful shape when child-bearing sets in, because of the erroneous belief that her breast would fall and become flat.

Mrs Yemisi Ajibade, a 32-year old mother of two, is also not convinced that exclusive breast-feeding practice could provide the immunisation necessary for survival and development of children.

Since exclusive breast-feeding means that an infant receives only breast milk with no additional food or liquid, not even water in the first six months of the baby’s life, some mothers see it as a practice which can have a drag on their shapes.

Therefore, in most cases, mothers negate the principle of exclusive breast-feeding practice by adding infant milk and water to the child’s diet.

But experts say that whether or not a mother breast feeds, at one point in a woman’s life, the shape of the breast which spinsters protect, will be altered.

“Breast-feeding does not make a woman’s chest flat. If anything, the breast becomes fuller when a woman is breast feeding.

“This is because it is going to contain all the fluid that goes into the baby’s mouth so it will expand and each time a woman is breast feeding, the turgidity of the breast remains.

“There are many women who have not breast fed all their lives and yet have flat chest,” says Bunmi Ogundimu, a medical doctor.

Experts also say that it has been proved that exclusive breast-feeding provides all the ingredients to boost the immunity of a baby as they grow.

According to UNICEF, exclusive breast-feeding for the first six months of life reduces infant mortality linked to common childhood illnesses and malnutrition.

Mrs Ann Veneman, the former UNICEF Executive Director, said “Breast-feeding is a key tool in improving child survival and can avert up to 13 per cent of under-five deaths in developing countries, if it is effectively practised.”

The experts’ belief is that breast milk is the natural first food for babies which provides all the energy and nutrients that the infant needs for the first months of life.

They believe that it continues to provide up to half or more of a child’s nutritional needs during the second half of the first year and up to one-third during the second year of life.

In the light of this, the campaign for breast-feeding became more pronounced in the 80s during the tenure of the former Minister of Health, late Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti.

Ransome-Kuti, a renowned paediatrician, led the breast feeding campaign in Nigeria while UNICEF and WHO jointly launched the baby-friendly hospital initiative in 1992 and the World Breast-feeding Week was inaugurated.

He ensured exclusive use of breast-feeding in Nigerian hospitals, which began in teaching hospitals in Lagos, Ibadan and Zaria.

The success of the campaign is evident in the Ministry of Health’s report that more than 1,149 hospitals and health care centres across the country have become baby-friendly.

Since its inauguration in that year, it has also gained prominence so much so that more than 170 countries celebrate the week yearly, from August 1 to August 7.

Commenting on the importance of the week, Mrs Celine Njoku, the Assistant Director in charge of Infant and Young Child Feeding (Nutrition Division), Ministry of Health, says this year’s celebration will allow the stakeholders to assess what Nigeria has achieved so far.

Njoku says the 2003 National Demographic Health Survey put the rate of exclusive breast feeding at 17 per cent which she said, dropped to 13 per cent in 2008.

Njoku attributed the decline to the HIV epidemic and the lack of effective and efficient sensitisation process.

She said the epidemic brought down the exclusive breast feeding rate because from 2003 to 2008, there was the incidence of HIV when most women were aware of the dangers involved in HIV-positive mothers to breast feed.

“They started adding infant formula and it affected the children and there was malnutrition which increased the mortality rate and the inadequate promotion of breast feeding reduced the rate also.

She said WHO’s recommendations on infant feeding in the context of HIV had shown that anti-retroviral (ARV) intervention to either the HIV-infected mother or HIV-exposed infant can significantly reduce the risk of postnatal transmission of HIV through breast feeding.

Njoku said Nigeria subsequently adopted one of the recommendations by WHO for breast-feeding in the context of HIV; that is, for infected mother to breast feed and receive ARV interventions.

“What this means is that these infected mothers will do exclusive breast-feeding for the first six months and thereafter continue breast feeding for one year but with adequate complementary food and anti-retroviral therapy

“All our documents on infants and young child feeding have incorporated the new national recommendation which is ongoing.

“We have flyers on infant and young child feeding in the context of HIV which was launched in the 54 National Council of Health last year and it was disseminated to all the states for them to implement.

“We have trained and are still training health workers to that effect. So now, no woman should have any excuse not to breast feed her child,” she said.

However, some mothers have different views about breast-feeding, irrespective of the medical prescriptions and experts’ belief.

A mother, Chioma, notes that she does not breast-feed because of the nature of her job, saying “I am a journalist and I have to go out for assignments and that is why I introduced formulae after three months.

“I didn’t also express the milk because I feel it is quite difficult a process; handling and preservation’’.

However, Bimpe, another mother, says she does exclusive breast feeding for all her three children because “while I was growing up, my mum used to say, this bond I have with you and your siblings is because I breast fed all of you.

“I was determined to have that same bond with my children and made up my mind to breast feed all my children.

“All my kids are very healthy, they rarely take ill except for the usual malaria, and attending antenatal clinics also helped me to realise the importance of exclusive breast-feeding’’.

For economic reason, Mrs Folashade a petty trader says “it is cheaper for me to breast-feed my children, I breast-fed two of my children till three years because I could not always afford to buy baby milk”.

Experts also warn that infant formulae have their disadvantages, stressing that none of the antibodies found in breast milk are found in manufactured formulae.

Dr Osaze Edward, a paediatrician, says that that the hygiene involved in making formulae may not be optimal and can lead to diarrhoea which is one of the leading causes of death in babies.

“Formulae do not offer any immediate immunity to the child so the child will be prone to infections.

“The tendency for the mother and child to bond is not there and formula is not cost-effective for the mother and the nation because we spend a lot of money to import baby food,” he said.

He says breast milk promotes sensory and cognitive development, and protects the infant against infectious and chronic diseases.

Another medical doctor, Fortune Fiberisima says breast-feeding is the safest, cheapest, available, affordable and most convenient way of feeding the child which ensures its survival.

He says: “Breast milk provides newborns with the nutrients and protection (antibodies) they need from several diseases and also prevents malnutrition and death; therefore, breast-feeding remains a mother’s best gift to herself, her baby and the world.”

According to him, breast-feeding protects women from anaemia, some cancers and also serves as a natural birth control to the mother.

UNICEF reports also indicates that breast-feeding keeps babies from the risk of gastrointestinal infection, respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, ear infections, and obesity.

As the world celebrates the 2012 World Breast-feeding Week, it behoves on all the stakeholders in the health sector to uphold the right practice, experts say.

The theme for the 2012 week is: Understanding the Past, Planning the Future: Celebrating 10 years of WHO/UNICEF’s Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding.

Oghenekaro writes for NAN

Okeoghene Oghenekaro