Week honors mothers’ milk; family emergencies main focus of World Breast-feeding Week

by Susie Young
San Juan Basin Health Department

World Breast-feeding Week takes place this week, and this year’s theme is “Breast-feeding: A Vital Emergency Response — Are You Ready?”
The week began Saturday and continues through Friday.
Breast-feeding helps infants in many ways, including emergencies.
During the last two years, Colorado residents have experienced four types of environmental emergencies: fires, tornadoes, snowstorms and contaminated public water supplies.
Within minutes, a major emergency may leave a family without transportation, housing and access to a clean water supply.
Unfortunately, children and infants affected by disasters are the most vulnerable population.
An infant’s chance of becoming ill, or even dying, can soar to 70 times the normal rate.
Exposure to illnesses such as diarrhea and respiratory infections is common, and without clean water sources, these diseases can escalate into deadly situations.
Breast-feeding shields an infant from these dangers because only breast milk contains antibodies, anti-viruses and anti-parasites. Breast milk continues to be the perfect food for infants.
To learn more about the benefits of breast-feeding, call San Juan Basin Health Department and ask to speak to a consultant at the Women, Infant and Children program.
Susie Young is a dietetic intern at the University of Northern Colorado. She is working this summer with the Women, Infant and Children program at the San Juan Basin Health Department.

A new study found that the current emphasis on breast-feeding can cause bottle-feeding parents to be under informed about properly nourishing their child.

The study’s authors from the University of Cambridge noted that, because most infants will receive some formula during their first year of life, even if their mothers breast-feed, it is important that health care professionals give them adequate information.

One finding of the study was that some mothers who bottle-fed felt that hospital midwives spent far more time with breast-feeding mothers. It also found that it was common for mothers to make mistakes in bottle preparation, which can increase the risk of infection, promote excessive weight gain or leave babies undernourished.

In an April article in The Atlantic Monthly, mother of three Hanna Rosin argued that the pressure on moms to breast-feed was so great that when she mentioned to other mothers that she was thinking about switching to formula, she was shunned.

While I found plenty to dispute in Rosin’s article I think that the Cambridge study underlines that that the emphasis on breast-feeding should not come at the expense of children whose parents who by preference or necessity bottle feed.

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