Why "about two-thirds of children do not fully enjoy the benefits of breastfeeding"?

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  Breast milk is the golden food for babies. Breastfeeding can reduce the risk of infants’ disease and is beneficial to the health of the mother.

However, in the past 20 years, the breastfeeding rate in my country has been declining, and it is difficult for many mothers to continue breastfeeding after returning to the workplace.

To increase the breastfeeding rate, we need support from many sources.

  August 1-7 this year is the 30th World Breastfeeding Week.

A reporter from the Workers’ Daily found in the obstetrics and pediatrics department of several hospitals in Kunming, Yunnan Province, that only 20% of the 20 mothers or expectant mothers choose to breastfeed their babies exclusively from 0 to 6 months.

Some mothers reported that they would exclusively breastfeed their babies during the first 3 months and add formula milk powder from the 4th month.

  Lai Jianqiang, deputy director of the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that breast milk is the best source of nutrition for children after birth. Breastfeeding benefits both the mother and the baby. The baby should insist on exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months after birth.

Statistics show that about two-thirds of children across the country do not fully enjoy the benefits of breastfeeding.

  Breastfeeding has many benefits, but the proportion is low. Why?

  Only 5% of those who cannot breastfeed due to breast development and other reasons

  Novice mother Ms. He is a staunch breastfeeding supporter.

She told reporters: "I experienced physiological swelling during the early stages of breastfeeding, and my breasts were as hard as stones, and I survived. Breastfeeding can enhance the relationship between me and my child, and after successful parent-feeding, there is a sense of accomplishment. As a mother, the feeling of being needed is very strong."

  Yang Shuyuan, a neonatologist at Kunming Children’s Hospital, told reporters that for newborns, breast milk is the safest, most complete, pollution-free, and environmentally friendly natural food for babies. It has been found that there are more than 400 beneficial substances in breast milk, which contain babies. The various nutrients and antibodies needed are the golden food for babies.

  "Breastfeeding is economical, safe and convenient. It is the safest'granary' that mothers can give their babies. Breastfeeding can not only enhance the baby's resistance, but also help the mothers recover their body and reduce the incidence of breast cancer." Yang Shuyuan said, about 95% Of mothers can achieve exclusive breastfeeding, and only about 5% of mothers cannot achieve breastfeeding due to breast development or hormones.

  Some working mothers can only "milk in the bathroom"

  "In order for my baby to take milk, I experienced the difficulty of feeding milk, the sorrow of young milk, the pain of blocking milk, the embarrassment of backing milk, and the collapse of night milk." The 4-month-old Zhong Ying said of her breast milk. The difficulty of feeding, "Baby swallowing ability is not strong enough, often choking and crying when breastfeeding, if you want to go out, there are few places dedicated to breastfeeding."

  Zhong Ying plans to carry milk to work after taking maternity leave, but the company does not have a maternity room, and she has to go to the bathroom to suck milk.

"I am even more worried about the conflict between work and breastfeeding time. When encountering meetings or urgent tasks, I can't leave at all. I breastfeed frequently and I am afraid that my boss will have opinions.

  The reporter learned that most mothers who have not succeeded in breastfeeding actually have a good foundation for feeding in the early stage.

But after the maternity leave ended and work resumed, problems continued to emerge.

Busy work prevents working mothers from having enough time to accompany their babies, unable to feed their babies, breasts cannot be stimulated as they should, and milk production decreases accordingly.

Many mothers who were originally determined have to give up breastfeeding because of the pressure of not having a breastfeeding room, sucking milk and delaying work.

  The reporter asked 15 mothers who had been or were carrying breast milk. They all used a breast pump to pump out their breast milk before going to work during the day or during work hours and put it in an ice pack.

Among them, the unit with only 2 people has a breastfeeding room, 7 people need to use temporary places such as offices, storage rooms or conference rooms to milk, and 1 person can only milk in the bathroom.

  Most working mothers have only 4 months of maternity leave, and they need to "carry milk" after the maternity leave ends. However, the workplace environment may not provide a corresponding privacy environment.

Some women have ample milk secretion, and they will wet their clothes when they can't predict and control them, making it inconvenient to leave the house.

  The "White Paper on Maternal and Child Rooms in Chinese Cities" shows that the total number of maternity rooms in cities in my country is only 2,643.

Among the cities that have been equipped with maternity rooms, only 7 cities have more than 100 maternity rooms, and the number of maternity rooms in second-tier and lower-level cities is less than 10 on average.

  Other statistics show that Beijing is the city with the most maternity rooms in the country, but 90% are in public areas with high traffic such as shopping malls, airports, and subway stations.

  Formula milk powder sales are increasing year by year

  In the past 20 years, my country’s breastfeeding rate has been declining. The national 6-month exclusive breastfeeding rate is only about 30%, which is lower than the national target of 50%.

At the same time, the sales volume of my country's formula milk powder is increasing year by year.

  Zhang Huilan, an obstetrician at Yunnan Women’s and Children’s Hospital, said that newborn babies often need to be fed every hour or so because of their small stomach capacity. As the child grows up, the breastfeeding time can be gradually extended, and it will still affect the rest of the mother for a long time, especially the inability to get a complete night sleep, which is a burden on the mind and body.

  At the same time, excessive marketing activities in the infant formula market have also affected some mothers.

  He Xiangping, director of the Breast Disease Prevention Center and deputy chief physician of the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Beijing Haidian District, said that first of all, working mothers need to strengthen their belief in breastfeeding.

The second is the need for work units and society to provide multi-faceted support for breastfeeding, including formulating policies to support breastfeeding in the workplace; training employees on breastfeeding knowledge; setting up maternity rooms; allowing breastfeeding female employees to have flexible working hours for convenience They express breastmilk during work; giving breastfeeding female employees more work style options.

More importantly, relevant laws and regulations should put forward corresponding norms and requirements for work units to support breastfeeding, supplemented by policy support and encouragement.

However, whether to breastfeed and how to breastfeed, after all, women themselves bear the most responsibility. Therefore, women’s choices should be understood and supported on the basis of adequate science education and guidance.

Yellow elm

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