What better way to follow up a post on birthing experiences then to post about what comes after birth...breastfeeding. I am a huge advocate for breastfeeding, although I do respect those people I know choose not to do it. I like to encourage people to at least try it before deciding they can't or don't want to continue. I was able to breastfeed all three of my children, although none for the entire year I would have liked. In the United States, breastfeeding is encouraged by doctors and pediatricians for at least one year, with the first 4-6 months being exclusive breastfeeding. Not all countries encourage breastfeeding as much as this one, but trends are being made around the world. According to a publication by UNICEF (2010), Benin and Sri Lanka both increased the rates of exclusive breastfeeding by a significant percent between 2009 and 2010. Some of the things that changed in the countires looked at were communication with pregnant women and campaigns to educate not only pregnant women but also hospital administrators.
For the countries that do support breastfeeding, there are some that support it even more than the United States. In the US, while it is encouraged, it is not generally accepted in public places. In an article by Teri Brown (2011) in other countires, such as Africa, it is a natural thing to see women breastfeeding (without blankets to cover them up). Brown (2011) notes that in United Kingdom, it is not generally accepted for women to breastfeed in public and there are mixed feelings about whether to encourage breastfeeding at all due to many women having to return to work soon after giving birth. In France and Ireland, women generally try to breastfeed but give up after only a few weeks. The education is not there to encourage them to keep trying.
After reading about other countries, I feel very fortunate that we have the education and support that we have. I think it is important to encourage women to not only try to breastfeed but to continue and also to use the resources available like lactation consultants. For my current job, I think it is important to educate child care providers, especially those that do not have children or had children when breastfeeding was not as encouraged as it is now. Child care providers need to be educated on policies and changes they can make so that breasfeeding mothers can feel better about going back to work and make it easier for them to continue to breastfeed. I also will try to educate businesses to have policies and procedures in place so that women can easily pump and have paid pumping breaks or allow them to leave work and visit baby and be able to nurse him or her.
Resources:
UNICEF (2010, April). Consolidated report of six-country review of breastfeeding programmes. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/
Brown, Teri (2011, March 12). Breastfeeding around the world. Retrieved from http://www.breastfeed.com/
I was also able to successfully breast feed my three children. It is not only the healthier choice for them but also helps create such a strong bond.
ReplyDeleteI believe child care providers need to be educated on breastfeeding as well. I recently assisted a mother find a new child care center after the one she was using kept throwing away her expressed breastmilk and then calling her to come feed the baby. I personally was horrified to hear this. This mother attempted repeatedly to tell the staff it is normal for breastmilk to seperate and to just shake it. Even the director did not do anything to educate the staff on how to handle the expressed milk. I sympathized with the mother's frustration on how much work it was to pump the milk for the bottles for it to just be thrown out. She had even asked them to just save it and return it to her. It is situations like this which make it hard for working mothers to continue breastfeeding after returning to work. I would like to see a required course for child care providers on how to support breast feeding mothers. Maybe then more would be supportive.
I agree that education is the key. I also agree that places of employment need to accommodate working mothers. It was really hard for me to go back to work and still breastfeed because my job was not being flexible and I work at a childcare facility!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your posting this week. I am an advocate for breastfeeding, though I admit that I do not know enough about it to counsel a new mom or family. Education, prior to birth is essential for moms to feel comfortable with the decision they are about to make and to understand the potential obstacles and barriers. I think that working moms struggle with this because they want what is best but it does not always fit into their schedule.
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