© UNICEF/K. Holt Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure a healthy baby. INTERVIEW | Professional help and community support are critical to breastfeeding Healthcare
Breastfeeding is the oldest symbol of motherhood and an opportunity for a mother to establish a bond with a newborn from the first days of his life. For a long time it was perceived as a natural process that did not require special knowledge or training. However, in practice, many women face difficulties.
Fatigue, conflicting advice, lack of support and emotional vulnerability after childbirth often force women to give up breastfeeding or stop breastfeeding earlier than they planned. and child” (Moscow region) Vera Artemova told in an interview with the UN News Service why even an experienced mother may need professional help, how to prepare for breastfeeding and what role family, employers and society should play in supporting women.
Benefits for mother and child child
The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes: breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure a child’s health. According to Vera Artemova, this benefit is primarily due to the unique composition of mother’s milk, which changes at different stages of lactation depending on the needs of the child. “For a child, mother’s milk is a unique product with a rich composition, which is created personally for him,” she noted.
Indeed, as WHO notes, mother’s milk provides the baby with essential nutrients in the first six months of life and contains antibodies that help protect him from infections. In addition, unlike infant formula with an unchanged composition, breast milk is lighter and is digested and absorbed more quickly by the infant’s immature digestive system, allowing him to devote more energy to growth and development. In the long term, breastfed children are less likely to be overweight and obese during childhood and adolescence, and also score higher on intelligence tests. Photo courtesy of the Mother and Child Clinic Breastfeeding consultant Vera Artemova. However, not only the child, but also the mother benefits from breastfeeding. “Both people are interested in breastfeeding – both mother and child. It is impossible to single out just one person in this pair,” the expert emphasized. For example, lactation promotes hormonal regulation – oxytocin is released in a woman’s body, which promotes contraction of the uterus and the woman’s recovery after childbirth, and prolonged breastfeeding reduces the risk of developing breast cancer. “Women who breastfeed for a long time are less likely to encounter this disease. This is an important contribution to a woman’s health in the long term,” Artemova noted. However, despite the fact that breastfeeding can be considered a healthy and natural process, the process does not always improve on its own. Often, a woman does not receive timely, qualified support. As a result, most new mothers leave the maternity ward without important advice on breastfeeding and introducing complementary foods. According to WHO and UNICEF, only 15 percent of countries include infant and young child nutrition in training programs for doctors and nurses working with new mothers.In the face of a lack of professional advice, Vera Artemova advises preparing for breastfeeding during pregnancy. Understanding the basic principles of lactation helps a woman navigate conflicting information, recognize common myths and understand when it is necessary to consult a specialist. “When a woman is informed, it is very difficult to confuse her. After giving birth, as a rule, there is no strength or resources to study information, and in an emotional state it is especially difficult to understand everything,” she noted. since the arrival of a new child poses new challenges for a woman, and previous experience does not always provide answers to the questions that arise. “All children are completely different. With each child, it’s like you become a new mother again and go through everything for the first time. They give us new tasks, and thanks to this we develop, become more patient and learn to look at the world more broadly,” said Artemova. Therefore, asking for help, she emphasized, should not be perceived as a sign of inexperience or failure: “It’s difficult for us to look at ourselves from the outside. When a specialist comes, he can quickly see the problem and find a solution. It’s not scary to make a mistake or not figure it out. It’s scary not to call the person who will come and help in time.” milk The ability to continue breastfeeding for a long time largely depends on the attitude of loved ones, the employer and society as a whole to this issue. In the first weeks after giving birth, a woman is especially vulnerable, so criticism and unsolicited advice can undermine her confidence. That is why one of WHO’s priorities is to overcome the problem of stigmatization of breastfeeding women and create a friendly and safe environment for them. For Vera Artemova, creating such an environment begins with the willingness of others to respect a woman’s decision and take her side. “If a woman says: “I want to breastfeed,” then everyone around her should support her choice and be on her side,” she emphasized. According to her, it is important for society to take into account not only the mother’s choice, but also the child’s need to receive nutrition when he needs it. “It seems to me that people need to be reminded about the right of the child,” the expert added. If a woman says: “I want to breastfeed,” then everyone around her should support her choice and be on her side For women who find it important or necessary to return to work after childbirth, the ability to continue breastfeeding depends largely on workplace conditions. According to Artemova, pumping is a “quivering and sensitive process” for which a woman needs calm and solitude. That is why the employer must provide a separate room with access to water and a refrigerator for storing milk, and also provide for regular breaks for pumping, and if employees are provided with meals, take into account the increased energy needs of a nursing woman, because the body requires about 500 additional kilocalories just to produce breast milk. day. However, the expert noted that despite everything, most of the care still falls on the nursing woman’s family, so Artemova advises to agree before the birth who will take on household chores and decisions organizational issues. “You don’t need to wait for help – it needs to be organized,” she noted. It was her own experience of motherhood and the understanding of how important timely support is that led Artemova to the profession. “My motherhood led me to this work. This is a common story: women go through their own experience and understand how important it is to help others,” she said. According to Vera Artemova, there is no universal form of support: one woman needs detailed explanations, another needs more sympathy, and the third just needs to be listened to. Communities of mothers can play a special role in providing such support, in which women share their experiences without judgment.
The role of society and employers
“You don’t need to wait for help – it needs to be organized”