More than food, life.
Breastfeeding
There is plenty of evidence of the benefits of breastfeeding for the mother and baby at the physical and emotional level, and that it is a fundamental practice for preventing chronic malnutrition, in Guatemala on average only one-half of girls and boys under the age of six months are exclusively breastfed, which is vital to ensure their health and help reduce malnutrition in the country.
Irma Oviedo, aged 20, is from San Felipe de Jesús. She has five sisters and recalls that their mother breastfed all of them and recommended that they do the same with their future babies. She also says that her mother received training and some of the valuable information she passed on to them is that when a baby is breastfed he is less susceptible to disease and emotionally more stable.
In Guatemala, until now, of the 39 public hospitals in the country, 10 have been recognized as Breastfeeding-Friendly Health Services. This is based on global parameters and includes 10 steps for successful breastfeeding (see the box).
The idea is to expand this recognition to all the public hospitals in Guatemala and gradually incorporate government institutions and private companies that adopt this model, to be replicated at the national level.
One of such hospitals is Pedro de Betancourt Hospital in Antigua, which has been recognized as a Friend of Breastfeeding. Thanks to its best practices with regard to breastfeeding, in eight years the hospital has reduced infant mortality from 2 to 0.17 percent among its patients.
Another hospital initiative is the human milk bank. The purpose is to provide breast milk for premature infants with low birth weight, since they have to remain longer time at the hospital than their mothers. Therefore, these babies are fed with breast milk stored in the bank.
According to Dr. Miguel Ángel Soto, chief of the pediatrics section of this hospital, breastfeeding is not only the best food a newborn can get, but should be the only food until the age of six months, since breast milk has properties and biological values such as antibodies, immune secretions that protect the intestine, unique nutrients and proteins that cannot be replaced by industrial foods, even the best ones.
Thanks to the program implemented at Pedro de Betancourt Hospital, 80 percent of mothers continue breastfeeding their children during the first year of life.
Irma also notes that she learned that breastfeeding prevents ovarian cancer in the mother. Her baby was born in May 2017. He is her first child. Her milk came down on the fourth day. She adds, “My baby’s weight is good, he is well fed, he has never been sick, he has no digestive problems.” Her son was born at Pedro de Betancourt Hospital. For the first three days her baby received milk from the breast milk bank, which is why she greatly values this alternative. Now she contributes to the bank to help other mothers and save young lives, which makes her very happy.
There are cultural patterns linked to modernity and globalization, added to marketing campaigns by multinationals that produce industrial formula, which for some time lessened the perceived value of breastfeeding.
From another perspective, comparisons of the milk of a well-fed mother with that of one who is malnourished show that in qualitative terms there is no difference. Differences only exist at the quantitative level, which is why Dr. Soto says that nature is incredible and that human beings are made to feed their own species.
UNICEF and its partners promote breastfeeding to ensure the development of girls and boys and as an effective practice for reducing the chronic malnutrition that affects one-half of children under five.
UNICEF promotes breastfeeding-friendly spaces at companies, the public sector and the community. It also encourages midwives who promote breastfeeding.
Whenever we ensure good nutrition for a girl or boy, there is hope.
10 STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL BREASTFEEDING
(FRIENDS OF BREASTFEEDING HEALTH SERVICES)
1. Have a written policy in place regarding breastfeeding that is systematically shared with the entire healthcare staff.
2. Train all the healthcare staff so they are able to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women regarding the benefits of breastfeeding and the way to practice it.
4. Help mothers start breastfeeding during the half hour following childbirth.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed the child and how to keep on breastfeeding even if they have to be separated from their children.
6. Not give newborns anything but breast milk, without other foods or drinks, unless indicated by a physician.
7. Facilitate rooming-in of mothers and babies 24 hours a day.
8. Promote on-demand breastfeeding.
9. Not give breastfed children pacifiers.
10. Promote the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and ensure that mothers contact them whn they are discharged from the hospital.
TEN STEPS FOR A COMPANY OR INSTITUTION
TO BE RECOGNIZED AS A
“FRIEND OF BREASTFEEDING”
STEP 1: Make up a team that provides leadership and follow-up to implementation of the initiative within the establishment.
STEP 2: Implement a mother-friendly space to facilitate expression of breast milk and give constant support to working mothers.
STEP 3: Have a written breastfeeding policy in place at the establishment to be shared with the entire staff.
STEP 4: Train the staff and have materials to inform pregnant workers regarding the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
STEP 5: Show mothers how to express breast milk and how to keep on breastfeeding in case they are separated from their babies.
STEP 6: Give mothers the required maternity leave during the pre- and postnatal period established by law.
STEP 7: Allow mothers to take the breaks established by law for breastfeeding.
STEP 8: Give working mothers time to express breast milk according to their work schedule.
STEP 9: Share, facilitate and reinforce knowledge regarding timely stimulation for mothers to strengthen their ties of affection with the baby when they return home.
STEP 10: Do not accept from suppliers or offer their workers and their families breast milk substitutes or feeding bottles.
