According to medical professionals attached to the Health Ministry, only breast milk should be given to an infant during the first six months. Then it should be continued with other types of food until the end of first year. The government has initiated the feeding hour and has legally made it a right of the baby (and its lactating mother) in order to promote breast feeding. Under present rules and regulations, lactating mothers can take two hours off per day (either one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening or two hours in the morning or evening) to breastfeed their infants. Under the present law, this relief should be given to all lactating mothers in Sri Lanka working in both state and private sector.
The immunization capacity is comparatively high among the children who had been breast fed by mothers. There is a significant growth in their intellectual level too. Mothers should be made aware not to be deceived by certain advertisements which promote various milk powders indicating a high level of intellectuality. Breast milk (mother’s milk) is the best food / drink that can be given to an infant during its childhood. Breast milk changes throught out the day adding nutrients to it depending on the varieties of food taken by mother. According to the National Policy, infants should be fed only with breast milk within their first six months. But it is not an easy task because of the anti breastfeeding campaign carrying out by various institutions and organizations especially infant milk powder promoters. Here we are going to talk about how some ignorant mothers feed their infants with cow’s milk to make them more intelligent!
What is breast milk? According to scientific researches, human milk is noticeably thinner and sweeter than cow’s milk. Whole cow’s milk does not contain sufficient vitamin E, iron, or essential fatty acids, which can make infants fed on cow’s milk anaemic. Whole cow’s milk also contains excessive amounts of protein, sodium, and potassium which may put a strain on an infant’s immature kidneys. In addition, the proteins and fats in whole cow’s milk are more difficult for an infant to digest and absorb than the ones in breast milk. Evaporated milk may be easier to digest due to the processing of the protein but is still nutritionally inadequate. Some infants are allergic to one or more of the constituents of cow’s milk, most often the cow’s milk proteins. These problems can also affect infant formulas derived from cow’s milk.
Environmental pollutants found in breast milk are usually not harmful. Expressed breast milk can be stored for later use. It is recommended that the milk is stored in hard-sided containers with airtight seals. Some plastic bags specifically manufactured for the storage of expressed breast milk are designed for storage periods of less than 72 hours - others can be used for up to 6 months if frozen. Therefore mothers can easily give breast milk for their infants even when they are working or stay away from the infant. Lactating mothers also benefited by breastfeeding. They can safeguard themselves from breast cancer by breastfeeding their infants. Milk deposits in breasts can lead to cancer in women at a later stage. This can be avoided by breastfeeding.
There are many problems when it comes to infant formula. First of all we can talk about the allergies. Many infants and children are allergic to cow’s milk. Therefore when they fed with infant formula made out of cow’s milk they show allergic reactions. Sometimes these allergic reactions can be fatal.
The other fact is the quality of these infant formulas. In 2006 an earth shattering news broke out all over the world about contaminated infant formula and other milk products. The milk was contaminated with Melamine, a very toxic substance! Sri Lanka took all precautionary measures to prevent any damages and commenced to test all milk products before putting them into the market. Some products were taken out from the market. A large number of infants got killed in some foreign countries after consuming infant formula contaminated with Melamine.
It is hilarious to see how some television advertisements show one or two years old toddlers engaged in serious mathematics by drinking infant formulas produced using cow’s milk! But the funniest and most pathetic part is there are some mothers who are lured by such advertisements!
Breast milk is a genuine natural product given by nature for babies. Therefore it does not have any type of ill effects. Only good nutrients are in breast milk. Therefore it the sole responsibility of mothers and (also fathers’) to feed infants with the golden gift of nature, without listening to infant formula promoters and some `nurses’ and `doctors’ in private hospitals !
Courtesy - Daily News By Nadira Gunatilleke
