La lactancia exclusiva no es prioridad para las madres dominicanas - DiarioLibre.com
only 7% of dominican children receive mother's milk as exclusive food during first 6 months of life.
the number is so low because most kids are at least supplemented with powder milk, the older they are the less probable is they will be breastfed.
Adding to this four year old thread, as it seems that the situation has not exactly been, at least completely, rectified (mods feel free to move to a new thread if this is not okay):
From today's DR1 news:
"Only 38% breastfeed at birth
Breastfeeding culture at birth in the Dominican Republic is very low, estimated at 38%, according to the recent Capture the Moment report by Unicef.
Commercial baby milk brands are known to have penetrated the market, and their representatives work hard at convincing new mothers that their products are better than maternal milk. Also affecting breastfeeding is the high C-Section birth rate in the country at around 56% of births, reducing the possibility of mothers feeding their child right after birth.
The regional Latin American and Caribbean average of 52%, according to the Unicef Capture the Moment report. "
Based on my experience, it's not just the baby milk brands, my wife was practically forced to give (almost exclusively) powder milk by the nurses and even by the doctor who received our first son back in 2013, in a private clinic. The more powder milk I asked for her, the happier everyone (except my wife) seemed to be, and this was the medical staff in question. Granted, they also charged for that, which might well be the reason... Of course, money is more important than healthy nutrition...
It wasn't until we got home after about 2 days that she began properly breastfeeding, again, not because she did not want. Our first son was breastfeeded until he was about 24 months old.
In fact, I've not exactly understood, how the powder milk brands are at fault at this? Nobody is forced to buy anything, and the mother should be able to make a decision of what to feed the child?
Our second son was born in Europe, and the practice was the complete opposite, she was denied any powder milk in the first couple of days, by the medical staff.