On occasion of the World Breastfeeding Week (1-7 August 2019), public health officials are sharing some grim health statistics. Only 4 out of 10 babies breastfeed in their first hour of life in the Dominican Republic. Those that are not breastfed two to 23 hours after being born have 33% more probability of dying.
Even worse, only seven out of 100 mothers exclusively breastfeed. That is around 14,000 out of 200,000 births in the country, according to the deputy director of the National Health Network Support, Victor Calderon.
A report by UNICEF says that there is little orientation for new mothers in many health centers. Moreso, the obsolete practice of separating mother and baby at birth continues. The Dominican Republic also has a high cesarean section birthrate. In 2018, four out of 10 births in public hospitals were by C-section, and nine out of every 10 in private hospitals, according to data from the National Health Service (SNS). It may take longer for mother’s milk to come in cases of C-section compared to vaginal delivery.
Moreso, formula manufacturers distribute their products free at the hospitals to motivate future sales. Adding to the reasons for low breastfeeding is the large number of births to teenage mothers.
Dr. Calderón says that maternal deaths are 15% less among babies breastfed exclusively than among those fed formula. He stressed mother’s milk reduces diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems in newborns. He said babies that are not breastfed are more likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes and have lower immunity.
Years back, doctors emphasized that exclusive breastfeeding should be at least for the six first months of a baby.
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El Dia
El Caribe
5 August 2019