Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

When it comes to the topic about the healthy development of children, physical health is the greatest concern because it is the foundation of biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial development of children. Concerning the health of infants, adequate nutrition is very important to infants’ growth and breastfeeding is one vital way to ensure the overall growth, development and health of infants as well as other supplemental food and vitamins.

I chose the topic of breastfeeding because of my personal experience. My mother died of breast cancer, which is an alert to my sister and me because we are in high risk of getting this cancer. Therefore, we focus on this and look for some practical ways to prevent this disease. Breastfeeding is the very first and profound way to reduce the high risk of breast cancer for the good of both the mother, and most importantly, prevent the infant from some adult illness including cancer. My sister breastfed my niece for at least three months and it turned out that every physical check of my sister is normal and my niece has been growing well and luckily no evidence in malnutrition so far. After reading Berger’s (2012) textbook, I realised that breastfeeding is enormously beneficial to the baby, the mother and the family. Here I would like to attach the table 5.2 from Berger’s textbook, to remind us of the importance of breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding to the largest extent reduces infant disease and health. As worldwide doctors recommend, breastfeeding for six months will achieve its maximum impact on infants. However, the statistics vary globally according to culture and economic status in each nation. Here below I would like to share some information in an article Breastfeeding Around the World from InCultureParent, retrieved from http://www.incultureparent.com/2012/03/breastfeeding-around-the-world/.

Information 1: “The Philippines is one of the leaders in international efforts to promote and protect women’s right to breastfeed. The country has implemented laws to control aggressive marketing by formula companies and their false claims that formula makes babies smarter. The WHO estimated that the nation’s total lost wages from caring for formula-fed children with diarrhea and acute respiratory infections during the first six months of life was 1 billion pesos ($23.4 million). Eighty-eight percent of Filipino babies are breastfed at birth and 34% are exclusively breastfed up to five months of age.”
Information 2: “Perhaps best remembered for the commotion around Selma Hayek breastfeeding one of its children, Sierra Leone has some of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, as well as the lowest rates of exclusive breastfeeding. There is a deeply held belief among many that colostrum, or first milk, is poisonous and that breastmilk doesn’t provide enough food for a baby, resulting in the introduction of solid foods often too early. While 51% of infants are breastfed at birth, only 11% are exclusively breastfed in the first five months of life.”
Information 3: “Historically, milk bonding relationships were very common in the Muslim world and extended family or neighbors would share in breastfeeding children the same age. In Islamic law, children suckled by the same woman (say, a wet nurse) are viewed like siblings, making them ineligible to ever marry one another. Despite the deep history of breastfeeding in the Muslim world, only 31% of babies are exclusively breastfed from birth to five months in Morocco (although 95% of babies have been breastfed at least once). Of those who do nurse, 57% are still breastfed at 12 to 15 months."
Information 4: “A majority (88%) of Canadian mothers breastfeed their babies at birth, if only for a short time. Over half (54%) of these mothers continued breastfeeding for six months or longer and half (24%) of those women breastfeed exclusively. Almost sixteen percent breastfeed for more than one year. Of the 13% of new mothers who did not attempt to breastfeed, 28% cited medical factors as the main reason for not breastfeeding, 25% said that breastfeeding was ”unappealing” or ”disgusting” and 19.5% claimed bottle feeding was easier. Women with a postsecondary diploma or degree were more likely to breastfeed than those without.”

From the statistics and the attitudes of different nations, we can see that in  some nations, such as The Philippines, Namibia, Peru, Poland and Canada, etc., a higher rate of babies in those nations are breastfed at birth and exclusively breastfed by four or five months or up to six months of age. The reasons for higher rate of breastfeeding mainly lie in their believing in the benefits of breastfeeding to the mother and the baby and the encouragement from the World Health Organization (WTO) and the support of law in those nations. However, due to culture diversity and feeding practices, the statistics of breastfeeding indicate a lower rate in some nations, such as Sierra Leone, Italy, Morocco, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Australia and the US, etc.. For example, the belief that colostrum is poisonous and the early introduction of solid food reduce the rate of breastfeeding.

Information 5: “Exclusive breastfeeding is the perfect way to provide the best food for a baby’s first six months of life, benefiting children the world over. But breastfeeding is so much more than food alone; breastfed infants are much less likely to die from diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and other diseases: a non-breastfed child is 14 times more likely to die in the first six months than an exclusively breastfed child. Breastfeeding supports infants’ immune systems and helps protect from chronic conditions later in life such as obesity and diabetes. Suboptimum breastfeeding still accounts for an estimated 800,000 deaths in children under five annually (about 13% of total child deaths), according to the Lancet 2013 Nutrition Series. Data from 2011 indicate that only 39 per cent of 0-5 month olds in low-income countries are exclusively breastfed.” Retrieved from UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_breastfeeding.html.

Actually as a Chinese, when hearing a baby of more than 6 months and even a year is still exclusively breastfed, I feel a little bit strange, thinking that why they are still breastfed since they are old enough to eat other food, though I am believing in the good of breastfeeding. After reading Berger’s textbook and the resources I have found, I realise that exclusive breastfeeding will bring optimal benefits to the infant. Therefore, I build up a belief and will take action when I have a baby, I will breastfeed my baby for the both good of my baby and me. Meanwhile, I will try to encourage the people around me to breastfeed by showing the resources I have gained to them.


Reference:

Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Chapter 5, "The First Two Years: Biosocial Development”.

InCultureParent. (2014). Breastfeeding Around the World. March 5th, 2012. Retrieved March 14th, 2014 from http://www.incultureparent.com/2012/03/breastfeeding-around-the-world/.

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). 2014. Nutrition: Infant and Young Child Feeding. Retrieved March 14th, 2014 from http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_breastfeeding.html.