On World Health Day, celebrated on 7 April, neonatal experts called on mothers to give their babies the best start for a healthy life by breast feeding them.
On World Health Day, celebrated on 7 April, neonatal experts called on mothers to give their babies the best start for a healthy life by breast feeding them.
Vanessa Booysen, Neonatal Lead Facilitator for the Limpopo Initiative for Newborn Care and Stasha Jordan, breast feeding activist and Executive Director of South African Breastmilk Reserve both warned that while formula may seem more convenient for busy moms to feed their babies, the benefits of breast milk and breast feeding far outweigh those of formula for infants, toddlers and particularly for newborn babies.
Not only is breast milk the natural solution but breast feeding has physical and emotional benefits for both mothers and babies, say the experts. For babies, the likelihood of diarrhoea and respiratory infections is reduced considerably by breast feeding. Long-term associated benefits include protection against cardiovascular disease, allergies, obesity and diabetes.
“Breast milk is not only food, but essential, natural medicine for your baby,” explains Booysen.
“Like all consumer products, formula milk is designed to be a profitable product for the manufacturer. Due to the fact that it is mostly dehydrated cow’s milk and static (without live cells and enzymes), you can never compare the two. Breast milk has numerous immune enhancing properties that formula does not; formula is therefore not nearly as healthy as breast milk for your baby,” said Booysen.
An article published in the The Lancet medical journal in January stated that “the active and aggressive promotion of breast milk substitutes by their manufacturers and distributors continues to be a substantial global barrier to breast feeding".
Booysen added that promotion and marketing have turned infant formula into a normal food for any baby, while it should be seen as a specialised product for babies that cannot be breast fed. This is one of the main reasons why South Africa has one of the lowest breast feeding rates in the world.
During Women’s Month last year, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi did not mince his words when he called for exclusive breas tfeeding for all: “None of you have ever met a calf eating grass. All calves are on milk from their mothers and they do so for many months,” he said.
The South African Breastmilk Reserve was founded in 2003 as the first registered human-milk-bank in South Africa. The main objective is to facilitate the establishment of human-milk-banks in as many communities as possible, with the aim of providing human milk (and the necessary equipment and funding) to babies in need, particularly babies orphaned as a result of AIDS.
