Breastfeed and save both your lives

The number we must look at when evaluating the practice of breastfeeding in the country is not how many mothers start breastfeeding, but how many persist in breastfeeding for at least up to six months after childbirth.

For too many mothers, breastfeeding is fraught with difficulties and complications, despite the efforts of hospital staff to get women to initiate taking their babies to breast and dropping in to check on the progress of this feeding practice. But once mother and baby come home, and facing such issues as lack of sleep, lack of self-confidence, anxiety about the baby’s welfare, and especially returning to work after maternity leave — many mothers turn to the bottle instead.

This is the reason the Philippines reports a “low” 34 percent of infants under six months who are breastfed exclusively. Recently, the Unicef and the World Health Organization jointly urged the government to “increase national investments to raise breastfeeding rates,” underlining the need to increase overall government spending on health and nutrition.

And we’re not alone. The recently released “The Global Breastfeeding Scorecard,” which evaluated 194 nations with the Global Breastfeeding Collective, found just 40 percent of children younger than six months globally are breastfed exclusively. Only 23 countries have achieved exclusive breastfeeding rates above 60 percent, the report says.

The same study shows that an annual investment of only $4.70 per new born is required to increase the global rate of exclusive breastfeeding among children under six months to 50 percent by 2025.

“Breastfeeding gives babies the best possible start in life,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO. “Breastmilk works like a baby’s first vaccine, protecting infants from potentially deadly diseases and giving them all the nourishment they need to survive and thrive.”

The low rate of breastfeeding here is linked to the “critical” state of malnutrition and undernutrition among Filipino children, say Unicef and WHO.

In 2015, around 2.8 million Filipino children under 2 years of age were undernourished due to “sub-optimal breastfeeding practices.” As a result, around 7,500 Filipino children under 2 years of age die annually due to undernutrition resulting from inadequate breastfeeding practice.

“Children’s right to life, healthy growth and development is non-negotiable. This is why we need support from the highest level of government in advancing policies and supporting investments for our children and mothers’ health and nutrition, right at the onset of pregnancy and all the way to the child’s second birthday,” said Unicef Philippines Representative Lotta Sylwander.

Aside from providing protection from common childhood ailments like diarrhea and pneumonia — two major causes of death in infants — breastfeeding also protects mothers, providing a reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancers — two leading causes of death among women. Breastfeed your child, save your life!

Getting down to money talk: the annual investment needed for breastfeeding education and promotion here is estimated to be at least $700,000. But annual investments by the national and local governments are still quite low.

One of the recommended evidence-based actions to improve breastfeeding rates is “to support paid maternity leave and encourage and support women to breastfeed in the workplace.” The Expanded Breastfeeding Act requires providing workplace breastfeeding “for working women so they can continue to breastfeed their children even when they go back to work.”

This is one reason Congress needs to get cracking on passing the Act, which was passed by the Senate last March, under the sponsorship of Senators Risa Hontiveros and Sonny Angara.

The measure grants working mothers 60 additional days of paid maternity leave (from the original 60 days), with an option to extend for another 30 days of unpaid leave. It is hoped that after 120 days, new mothers would have been able to establish their breastfeeding patterns, allowing them to continue breastfeeding even after returning to work.