World Breastfeeding Week 2008

It's World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) this week ( 1-7 Aug 08). This year's theme, "Mother Support: Going for Gold", is something I believe very strongly in.  

It is not enough to say that breastmilk is the perfect source of nourishment for infants and young children ("the gold standard" so to speak), mothers must be given support so that they are in the best position to make breastfeeding a reality for their children.  

Support should not be confined to the first days in hospital with the hospital lactation consultant.  Many mothers give up breastfeeding shortly after returning home, due to a lack of awareness and information on optimal breastfeeding practices.  More needs to be done to help mothers sustain exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months post-partum, and to continue breastfeeding for two years and beyond (WHO guidelines). 

Through my breastfeeding experience, I have come to realise that support must come from a variety of sources.  Mothers must start to learn about breastfeeding before the baby is born.  It is a suprise to many that breastfeeding, though a very natural act, needs to be learnt.  As mothers, we should do as much as possible to learn about it so that we can give our children the best start in life.  In a similar vein, hospitals need to provide "practical instruction" on breastfeeding in the first few hours and days after the birth of the child.  Someone needs to physically show the mother what needs to be done.  Counselling needs to be available even after the mother returns home, as many problems arise in the weeks after delivery. 

Home support is also critical.  My husband and mother, who took care of me during my confinement month, were extremely supportive of my desire to breastfeed exclusively.  Never once did they suggest that we feed our baby formula.  In my exhausted and hormonally-driven emotional state, I think I might have given in had the idea been brought up.  Even then, I faced difficulties.  

Beyond this, we need to see more support at the workplace, and within the community. Working mothers must be able to regularly express milk in a conducive environment during the workday so that her baby can be fed.  She must certainly not have to use the toilet to express her milk.  We do not prepare our meals in the toilet, so why should it be OK to prepare her baby's meals there?  She must also be able to nurse her infant in public without being asked to cover-up.  How would you like to be told to eat under a blanket? Breastfeeding is not obscene.  In anycase, usually very little of the breast is exposed and you won't notice it unless you are trying hard to look, you leering pervert. 

The Singapore Chapter of the Breastfeeding Mothers' Support Group is celebrating WBW. More information is available at their website.  If you are a breastfeeding mother, please support their activities. If you are not, do take some time to learn about breastfeeding, and what you can do to help our mothers help our children get the best start in life.