Today the first day “#Familiaedulacta: making breastfeeding visible” is held in Madrid, whose main objective is to make breastfeeding visible and normalize as a natural way of feeding the baby.
According to Edulacta, almost 90% of pregnant women decide to breastfeed their babies, although after six months only 30% continue to do so. What are the reasons for this decline and what can we do to raise breastfeeding rates?
The importance of having professionals trained in lactation
According to Pilar Martínez, pharmacist, IBCLC and co-founder of Edulacta, the main reason why only 30% of mothers continue to breastfeed beyond six months is due to the lack of support from health professionals .
And is that despite dealing directly with the recent mother and answering questions related to health, most of these professionals do not have specific training in breastfeeding, because “this subject is not studied at the University,” says Pilar.
Pilar’s statements are based on numerous surveys conducted in recent years with pediatricians and family physicians on breastfeeding. They reflect a limited knowledge on the subject, as well as multiple myths that, unfortunately, contribute to the failure of a large number of lactations.
“The main case that I come across is that of breastfed newborn babies who gain little weight . There are many health professionals, who instead of helping the mother to maintain her breastfeeding and looking for the causes of that little weight gain, they advise giving bottles to the baby “
“Another typical example is that of the mother with pain while breastfeeding , who instead of receiving help not to suffer, receives the advice to stop breastfeeding. Along these lines, it is also common to find mothers with mastitis who health professionals do not know how to help, and they prescribe inappropriate antibiotics or advise to stop breastfeeding while the mastitis lasts, so the mother ends up getting worse and, consequently, giving up breastfeeding “
“There are also many doctors who today still do not know what medication is compatible with breastfeeding , so when the mother must start some type of treatment, the doctors directly force us to wean”
“And another frequent case that I come across is that of mothers who receive the message that after six months their milk is useless, so they end up breastfeeding their babies.”
Despite these terrible examples that Pilar often faces, the co-founder of Edulacta recognizes that more and more health professionals, being aware of their training needs, “decide to train on their own” to offer a better service to their patients:
“We do not need to know everything, but we do need to be well informed to offer the mother up-to-date and evidence-based information , always looking for alternatives to help her according to her needs and preferences. And in the case of not being able to help, it is important to know how to refer to an International Breastfeeding Consultant or ask for help from another professional “
In addition, Pilar emphasizes the importance of treating the mother with respect, listening to her opinions and preferences, and supporting, from the information, any decision she wants to make.
More extensive maternity permits and facilities for nursing mothers
Another point that affects the fact that most mothers end up giving up breastfeeding after six months is the low maternity leave that we have in Spain , as well as the few breastfeeding aid that many companies offer.
Pilar assures that if the maternity leave were extended to at least six months, it would be more feasible to achieve exclusive breastfeeding during the first half year of the baby’s life , as recommended by the WHO.
However, the co-founder of Edulacta insists that the main problem lies in the lack of professional support, since it has been seen that mothers who really want to continue breastfeeding after joining work, can do so if they obtain the support and information necessary to know how to proceed.
Similarly, it is important for employers to become aware of the importance for society of maintaining breastfeeding , and to ensure the nursing mother facilities to express her milk in a clean and adequate environment.
“Breastfed babies have less hospital admissions and, if they occur, are of shorter duration. Also lower morbidity from diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, otitis media and ear infections, as well as other infectious diseases”
“For their part, breastfeeding mothers receive more protection against breast and ovarian cancer, and have a lower risk of osteoporosis. All this reverses in society in general with lower health care costs, less absenteeism of the mother and fewer health problems throughout life “
Breastfeeding is the natural way of feeding babies, so it is important to make visible the social problems that exist and that force the mother to wean earlier than desired. In this sense, support and information are essential.
Photos | iStock
Via | Edulacta
