Bulatlat - The Philippines's alternative weekly newsmagazine

This story was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 13, May 7-13, 2006

Breastfeeding: Healthy, Economical, Pure

Exactly 3,738 mothers trooped to the San Andres Sports and Civic Center in Malate, Manila last May 4. Bringing with them their babies – some of whom were still in hospital gowns – they successfully broke the Guinness world record for simultaneous breastfeeding. More than that, they helped to highlight the need for mothers to breastfeed their children, a practice that is sadly declining.

BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat

As early as 6 a.m. of May 4, there were already mothers, carrying their children, lined up outside the San Andres Sports and Civic Center in Malate, Manila.

But unlike the usual gathering where they line up for relief goods, usually free noodles, eggs and milk, the mothers were there to feed their children with their own milk.

For the record

Dubbed "Sabay-Sabay Sumuso sa Nanay (Simultaneous Breastfeeding)," thousands of nursing Manileño mothers gathered to beak the Guinness world record for simultaneous breastfeeding.

To avoid disqualification, organizers confiscated feeding bottles and pacifiers before entering the gymnasium.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), Berkeley, California, was the previous record holder where 1,135 mothers simultaneously breast-fed their babies for a minute on Aug. 3, 2002.

But the Philippines successfully broke the record. Organizers from the Manila City Hall, Children for Breastfeeding (CBF), Nurturers of the Earth, Inc., and Unicef announced there were 3,738 mothers who participated in the event.

"I think Manila has broken the world Guinness record for simultaneous breastfeeding,” said Dr. Nicholas K. Alipui, Unicef representative in the Philippines.

Declining number of breastfeeding mothers

Starting out as a protest activity by mothers who were reprimanded for breastfeeding in public, the activity became part of the World Breast-Feeding Week every August.

The event also aimed to revive the breast-feeding culture in the country, organizers said.

Based on the records of the Department of Health (DOH), the number of women who breastfed exclusively during the first six months after giving birth fell from about 25 percent five years ago to 16 percent in 2005.

Citing the 2003 National Demographic Health Survey, Dr. Elvira Henares-Esguerra, CBF director, said that only 54 percent of infants were breastfed within an hour after birth while only 33.5 percent of infants under six months were exclusively breast-fed.

For the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef, there is a “special urgency to protect and promote breastfeeding” as “exclusive breastfeeding is the single most effective measure for reducing child death.”

Health benefits

The activity also aimed to educate mothers on the health benefits of breastfeeding.

According to Unicef, a baby who receives infant formula during the first two months of its life is up to 25 times more likely to die from diarrhea and four times more likely to die from pneumonia than an exclusively breast-fed baby.

"For mothers, breastfeeding reduces blood loss after childbirth, helps in child spacing in a natural way, and reduces the risk of various cancers associated with female organs," Henares-Esguerra said, referring to cancer of the breast, ovaries and uterus.

She added that exclusively breast-fed babies were smarter and incurred a low lifetime risk for diseases including diabetes, obesity and cancer.

Misinformation

The organizers also campaigned against misinformation being peddled by milk companies.

Henares-Esguerra, who until now breastfeeds her 4-year old son, discouraged mothers from receiving milk donations saying that sometime last year, about 30 million liters of milk were contaminated in Europe.

"The manufacturers claimed that they had thrown out the contaminated milk, but how can we be sure?” she said. “They may give it as donations to poor communities.”

WHO and Unicef also raised concerns about infant formula advertising making it “difficult for parents to understand the greater benefits of proper breastfeeding.”

It said 16,000 of 82,000 Filipino children who died in 2004 of preventable causes could have been saved by breastfeeding.

Alipui said spurious infant formula advertising must be curtailed, noting that several milk companies in the country claim their products produce child geniuses.

In response, health officials said they were considering the imposition of a ban on advertising by milk companies, which claim that formula milk was a substitute for breast milk.

On the other hand, the government of Manila vowed to promote breastfeeding in various health centers, hospitals and government offices. Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, who claimed all his children were breastfed, said he would propose the installation of breastfeeding centers in government offices and shopping malls as well.

Economical

The mass breastfeeding activity was also a rare occasion where the rich and the poor gathered together.

Rosana Robles, 50, still breastfeeds her 5-year old daughter Nash. Even when she was in the United States where she gave birth to Nash, never did she refuse to breastfeed even in public places there.

“It is love in the purest form,” she said. “I’m so lucky I’m blessed. I have milk.”

Although she can buy even the most expensive milk formula, “it was a natural instinct that I will breastfeed,” said the oldest participating mother in the event.

Because of breastfeeding, she proudly said that, aside from common illness like colds, none of her three children has been hospitalized.

While some mothers advocate for breastfeeding because of its health benefits, many breastfeed because it is economical.

Debralyn Tandas, 23, was one of those mothers from the slum areas who admitted that milk formula had become too expensive for their budget.

Tandas’ husband is a tricycle driver who hardly earns P250 ($4.84 at $1: P51.61) a day.

Although she once tried to feed her son with milk formula, she said that she chose the cheapest brand that costs P85 ($1.65). Even if she wanted to give him the “best” milk being promoted by television advertisements, she could not afford to do so considering their other expenses.

“Nung napansin kong madalas s’yang magsuka sa loob ng isang buwang pagdede n’ya sa bote, itinigil ko na,” she said. “Nakatipid pa kami.”(Before I noticed that he vomited often after one month of bottle feeding, so I stopped it. We were even able to cut down on our expenses.) Bulatlat

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