These days, in the British press specializing in children's health, a study that has indicated that the mothers who give bottle feeding your babies They receive neither emotional support nor sufficient information.
I do not know how the situation of Spanish women is, because here the breastfeeding rates are enormously low, but surely they feel identified with what has been found in British society.
The Archives of Disease in Childhood has collected a very large study that indicates that health personnel could be neglecting moms who decide or are forced to bottle feed. The news has caused considerable stir because, no doubt, although it is known that the best for the health of mothers and children is breastfeeding, "punishing" a lower quality care for those who use artificial milk is, in addition to an injustice , a very dangerous action that can have serious consequences.
Artificial milk is related to a higher incidence of many ailments, ranging from otitis and diarrhea to higher rates of leukemia and diabetes in children. The concrete cause-effect may not be able to be determined, but it is undeniable that there is a greater risk to the health of babies who take a bottle in general terms.
Sometimes I ask that the artificial milk It should be treated as a medicine and required that the same controls be carried out before marketing it to the medicines, so that the “side effects” were well known.
As I said, the use of artificial milk increases the rate of certain pathologies. But there is more, hygiene, dosage, mode of preparation and administration is a very serious issue. For this reason, precisely the mothers who are going to bottle feed need a lot of information, support and knowledge. A poorly prepared bottle can increase these problems if it is not properly sterilized or if the preparation is incorrect in mode and quantity.
The British researchers They reviewed 23 studies that included more than 13,000 participants and found that a considerable number of women complained about not receiving enough information on correct bottle-raising techniques, such as frequencies and feeding amounts. They also found that some mothers experienced negative emotions such as guilt, concern about the impact on their baby, uncertainty about how to proceed, and a very negative feeling about the pressure they received to breastfeed.
The study authors concluded that while it is a very important public health issue to promote breastfeeding as the healthiest option for mother and baby, it is also necessary to ensure that the needs of bottle-giving mothers are covered.
They conclude that if health professionals do not provide correct information about bottle feeding, mothers will seek help from family and friends, which can increase the risk of incorrect bottle-raising practices and dangerous.
This study has been answered by the direction of the program Children's Friends Hospitals in the United Kingdom, which is a UNICEF initiative. They have expressed their concern because they consider that the initiative is questioned by the conclusions of the work and they wanted to explain the operation of the protocols that are applied in the hospitals that acquire this certification. They believe that the Children Friendly Hospital Initiative is not a cause of the misinformation that mothers report.
The protocol indicates that all pregnant mothers should receive a talk about infant feeding within the rest of the prenatal care information, thus ensuring that all of them have complete and truthful information before making a decision on the type of breastfeeding they will give .
The only restriction is that no real demonstrations of the use of bottles can be made or directly or indirectly promote these products. The reason is that such demonstrations in prenatal classes undermine breastfeeding, and they are considered to be of no help in making an informed decision.
In the postnatal period it is strongly recommended that at bottle-giving mothers They are taught how to prepare it before they are discharged and it is recommended that the staff have a complete talk with them about how to bottle-feed properly. Staff are also encouraged to ensure that all mothers, regardless of feeding method, have a period of skin-to-skin contact with their babies to facilitate the creation of the bond.
Regarding the repeated accusation that states that the Promotion of breastfeeding It creates guilt and negative feelings in women considered simplistic. The reality is unquestionable, the evidence has shown in many fields and occasions that breastfeeding has important implications for infant and maternal health. Denying this information to women for fear of creating a sense of guilt or feeling pressured is to deny parents a fundamental right, to make their decisions in an informed and responsible manner.
That is the way information is imparted in the Children's Friends Hospitals and parents cannot deny their right to know the whole truth. To ensure that information arrives and does so in an understandable and comprehensive manner, health personnel are intensively trained.
Finally, in the letter they express their sadness for the feelings that mothers of shame and inferiority tell about fail to breastfeed, which precisely makes it necessary to strengthen support and training measures for women, because in reality, only a very small number of them are physically prevented from achieving it. If they wanted to breastfeed and did not get it, it is not their fault, but that there are not yet enough education and help programs. More programs such as the Friends of Children Hospitals Initiative are needed so that women who want to breastfeed can achieve it.
My personal experience and that of my environment is quite different in Spain. Here, except in the Children's Friends Hospitals, Information and promotion of breastfeeding is scarce, biased and insufficient. How do you perceive the orientation of the Spanish toilets and doctors? Do you offer truthful information and support about breastfeeding and artificial feeding?
