Why breast is best
Date Posted: Wednesday, August 08, 2007Author: Christen Pears
Breastfeeding has benefits for mother and baby. Picture by Sacha Blackburne Photography.
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Protection against allergies and infections, optimal growth and development, lower risk of diabetes, obesity and cardiac disease. These are just some of the benefits of breastfeeding but in Bermuda the vast majority of mothers choose to bottle feed their babies.
“Mothers would never purposely jeopardise the health of their child so I can only assume that the message about breastfeeding isn’t getting out,” says Lena Ostroff, chairperson of La Leche League (LLL) and accredited LLL leader.
“We live in what I call a bottle feeding culture. Despite the fact the benefits of breastfeeding are well known, I don’t think mothers really understand that.”
La Leche League is an international organization that provides information and support to breastfeeding mothers and has been working in Bermuda since 1987.
Breastfeeding Week
This week LLL teamed up for the first time with Bermuda Hospitals Board to launch World Breastfeeding Week on the island. The event aims to promote the importance of breastfeeding for the health of both mothers and babies.
Research has demonstrated the benefits of breastfeeding. Babies are healthier and have fewer bouts of illness and infection, and the benefits continue even into adulthood by lowering the rates of diabetes, allergies, obesity and cardiac disease. There are benefits for mothers, too. Women who breastfeed have a lower risk of ovarian and breast cancer and osteoporosis.
The World Health Organisation recommends that all babies are exclusively breastfed for the first six months and that breastfeeding continues for a minimum of one year. In Bermuda, however, there are few women who follow these guidelines. No statistics are available but it appears that while many women leave hospital breastfeeding, most of them give up in the first few weeks and months after returning home.
Lena says: “A lot of women don’t seem to understand the importance of breastfeeding. There’s a heavy influence through advertising and the media that says formula is just as good. Someone said to me recently that they knew breastfeeding was important in Third World countries, where the water was dirty and the baby could die, but not why you should do it in Bermuda. In Bermuda it won’t make the difference between life and death but it will make the difference between a healthy baby and a not-so-healthy baby.”
Working mothers
One of the main obstacles to breastfeeding is encountered by working mothers. Although some employers offer facilities where mothers can express breast milk, many women find themselves forced to use the bathroom or their car. Some mothers have been told that they cannot take time out to express even though colleagues disappear for regular cigarette breaks and consequently, many give up and resort to bottle feeding.
LLL is working to improve employers’ understanding and Lena recently gave a talk to a group of the island’s human resource managers. She says: “We need to explain to employers why it’s to their advantage to support mothers. There’s strong economic sense in it. Their employees will be happy and less likely to look for another job and they will stay at home less because their babies will be healthier. It is possible to be a working mom and to breastfeed.”
There is no legal protection for breastfeeding women in the workplace. In fact, Bermuda has no legislation governing breastfeeding in public. Both the UK and US are looking at introducing laws which will give women the right to breastfeed wherever they have the right to be. Bermuda hasn’t reached that stage; if a woman is asked to leave a restaurant or shop there is nothing she can do. While LLL has no plans to campaign for a change in the law, it does encourage a more tolerant attitude among members of the public.
“Breastfeeding can be done very discreetly and I would hope the public could be respectful of that,” says Lena.
La Leche League was founded in 1956 by a group of American mothers when they discovered breastfeeding rates had fallen to 20 per cent. Its mission is to help mothers breastfeed through support, encouragement and education and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding in the healthy development of mother and baby. In Bermuda, the group holds support meetings and mans a 24 hour telephone hotline for mothers who need help. It can make the difference between carrying on with breastfeeding and choosing the bottle.
One hundred years ago everybody breastfed but now only a handful of women do. Those who choose to breastfeed, particularly new mothers, may find themselves isolated.
“Motherhood is extremely demanding and stressful whether you’re bottle feeding of breastfeeding but breastfeeding is easier in the long run. It’s important for bonding with your baby it actually releases hormones that relax the mother. From the outside it may look like breastfeeding is more demanding but it ends up being very calming. “The first few weeks and months are going to be tough but I’ve never met a mother who regretted her decision to breastfeed but I’ve met a lot who regretted not doing it.”
KEMH offers pre-natal classes to discuss birthing options and breastfeeding Call 295 2055 for more information or email kerry.bennett@bermudahospitals.bm. La Leche League offers counselling for mothers who need breastfeeding support and can be contacted on 337 3030.