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  • Title: Breastfeeding: an appeal.
    Author: Nkanginieme KE.
    Journal: Afr Health; 1993 Mar; 15(3):20. PubMed ID: 12344841.
    Abstract:
    Factors that hinder breast feeding include the lack of knowledge of health personnel about the uniqueness of breast milk and the ease with which they and mothers have accepted formula feeding. These factors prevailed in Europe and North America until the 1960s, and they prevail today in developing countries. It is crucial to persuade health workers of the merits of breast feeding in order to promote it. Baby milk formula was developed in 1919 to provide a substitute for infants afflicted by the lack of their mothers milk. The search for the perfect human milk formula continues, but formula feeding is an experiment whose long-term effects are unknown. Its putative benefits are convenience, creation of employment, decreased perinatal mortality in affluent societies, and increased weight gain of premature low-birth-weight babies. However, formula feeding encourages less frequent child-mother contact. Employment opportunities in the manufacture of formula milk are only generated in the developed countries. The decline in perinatal mortality in developed countries since the advent of bottle feeding has been attributable to better obstetric care and improved management of such conditions as respiratory distress syndrome in infants. Most of the weight gain associated with formula use is caused by water and solute retention, which may be harmful to immature kidneys. On the other hand, the indisputable benefits of breast feeding include 1) prevention of infant malnutrition in the poor and obesity in the affluent 2) reduction in infection owing to protective factors in breast milk 3) reduced exposure to foreign allergens leading to a lower incidence of atopic conditions 4) convenience 5) enhancing the emotional bond between mother and child; and 6) helping to regulate appetite and satiety. Developing countries need health workers who are committed to encouraging exclusive breast feeding for 4 months, followed by breast feeding with supplements for at least 12 months.
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