Young lives hang by a thread as past haunts Rohingya mothers
Their story is all too common among the many women who have taken refuge in Bangladesh
In Cox’s Bazar Nazima Begum watches as a strip of paper with green, yellow and red bands is placed around her baby’s upper arm. If the circumference falls in the green zone, that’s good. If it falls in the red, it’s dangerous.
Her seven-month-old son, Ataur Rahman, is firmly in the danger zone. The circumference of his arm is 85mm. Anything below 110mm indicates severe malnourishment and risk of death. He weighs 4.2kg and is just over 60cm in length. The World Health Organisation estimates the average weight and height for a seven-month-old boy is 8kg and 69cm.
If Begum hadn’t brought him to the outpatients centre just outside Cox’s Bazar, he could have been dead within a week.
Struggling to feed
Begum tells staff that she’s struggled to feed Ataur since they arrived in Bangladesh in September, because she’s not been able to produce enough breastmilk.
It is a common complaint among women visiting the Action Against Hunger centre at Hakimpara makeshift camp.
Begum, along with her family, fled her home in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in September. They are among almost 700,000 Rohingya who, having fled violence in the area since August, are now living in camps near Cox’s Bazar.
In November, the UN children’s agency, Unicef, warned that one in four Rohingya children in Bangladesh were severely malnourished.
To ensure good development, the WHO and the UN refugee agency, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, recommend exclusive breastfeeding for at least the first six months, then continued feeding with solids until the age of two. But in times of crisis, when breastfeeding becomes even more important for children, women can struggle to produce enough milk. There can be various reasons for this. Sometimes children become ill and are too weak to suckle. Sometimes the mother hasn’t enough nutritious food herself. Or there might be nowhere private to feed. In Hakimpara camp, however, a significant reason for not producing milk is the emotional trauma that comes with displacement.
“Usually in a month, we see 10 to 15 mothers [at the camp] experiencing difficulties breastfeeding their children that are related to trauma,” says Sukla Sarkar, a nurser supervisor with Action Against Hunger.
To support women, Action Against Hunger offers specific counselling sessions for those having trouble breastfeeding. The organisation helps them try to relactate or invites them to discuss alternatives, such as using formula.