Since the dawn of time women of set forth to care for their children, their natural source of sustenance for their infants, breastmilk. However natural breastfeeding may be, the rate of woman breastfeeding in some countries is significantly low, as seen in the previous post, Is Breastfeeding heading for extinction in the Philippines?, which is eerily similar to the situation in Indonesia.
Society and its busy ways have lead many to find bottle feeding to be an almost natural source of child nutrition. For many mothers bottle feeding is now seen as the best and only way in which to provide for their infants. Like in the Philippines, the issue in Indonesia is not just that women are choosing not to breastfeed due to health issues, or even time restraints, but that they are blatantly misinformed about the benefits of breastfeeding. Mothers are led to believe that their child will actually be physically stronger and more intelligent if they use formulas over breastmilk.
Since 2006 Mercy Corps has promoted the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to Indonesian women. However while the promotion may appear new, Mercy Corps has been in Indonesia since 1999, since which they have always focused on the malnutrition of children under 5 years. Mercy Corps programs in the country work to train health officials and some 300 midwives in North Jakarta, which formula companies directly market to and use as promoters of their product. Mercy Corps now works with midwives to act as mentors to the mothers, and promote both the importance and key benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. In addition Mercy Corps is working to implement mother to mother support groups, which would include both pregnant and lactating women, and create community support networks.
The expense of formulas can also impact the entire family as the cost of a few dollars a day can quickly deplete a family's income, even taking half, when many families are already struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Therefore with food and fuel costs rising, many families are feeding their children and themselves less nutritious food sources.
In a recent interview with Mercy Corps Breast Feeding Incentive team in Indonesia I asked Dr. Fransiska Mardiananingsih, Mercy Corps’ Child Survival Project Manager,
“How much more important do you feel the role of breastfeeding is especially in a time of food insecurity?”
The food crisis is fuel for the crisis “It exacerbates an existing problem” People eat less, they eat a poor quality of food.
The expense of formulas also affects the countries healthcare systems, as it adds unneeded expenses to hospitals. The cost and lack of access to healthcare also significantly compounds the rate of infant mortality, as mothers do on seek appropriate prenatal care and advice, including advice on the benefits of breastfeeding.
Poorer families will also often dilute infant formulas with unsanitary water in an effort to stretch out the longevity of the formula. Using unsanitary water not only decreases the nutritional value of the formula, but also leads to an increase in the number of cases of diarrhea and dehydration. Additionally the slums often flood, which only serves to exacerbate the situation, as inundated parents line up at clinics which are already overwhelmed with infants who have fallen ill due to being formula fed with unsanitary water.
Another hurdle in promoting breastfeeding in Indonesian hospitals according to Dr. Mardiananingsih, is that;
"When a child is born, the child is taken from the mother and formula fed by the healthcare professionals." This is done so the mother can rest, however it could be anywhere between 2-3 hours, to as long as 12-24 hours that the infant is away from its mother. "The first feed is vital, within the first hour for the infant to have the ability to suckle." Within the first hour it is easiest to allow a child to instinctively breastfeed, is due to the shared unique scent of mother and child and done by skin to skin contact, allowing the infant to find the breast with little assistance. "But if you wait pas the first hour their instincts are lower and thus so are the success rate."
When asked what the biggest obstacle they faced in promoting exclusive breastfeeding was; the mothers, government, midwives, social/culture, or formula marketing; Dr. Mardiananingsih, stated that they all "equally compounded together" .
Part 1 of 2
