DOH promotes ‘exclusive breastfeeding’
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Department of Health here joins the celebration of the Breastfeeding Month of August as it promotes exclusive breastfeeding for babies six months after birth.
This advocacy runs with the theme “Pagpapasuso’y Pundasyon para sa Malusog at Mahabang Buhay ng Ina at Sanggol”.
Exclusive breastfeeding, coined by the World Health Organization, means that the infant receives only breast milk. No other liquids or solids are given (not even water) with the exception of oral rehydration solution, or drops/syrups of vitamins, minerals or medicines.
In the City of San Fernando, Fernandina mommies have been gathering for the past three years for a simultaneous breastfeeding activity dubbed Big Latch On.
The project, which was initiated by the City Tourism Office and Breastfeeding Pinays Pampanga Chapter and supported by Soroptimist International Pampanga, aims to promote breastfeeding as a way of life of a mother and child and normalize it in today’s society.
It also aims to urge and educate mothers, especially the new ones and soon-to-be’s, on the importance and benefits of breastfeeding on their health and relationship with their respective children, said organizer and City Tourism Officer Ching Pangilinan.
The project has raised the acceptance of the public on breastfeeding in common areas and have already recorded a significant rise on the number of breastfeeding mommies and babies in the province, according to Pangilinan.
The latest study of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) showed that newborns, who are breastfed in the first hour of life, are significantly more likely to survive as a delay of a few hours after birth could already pose life-threatening consequences.
It added that skin-to-skin contact along with suckling at the breast stimulates the mother’s production of breastmilk, including colostrum, which is also called the baby’s “first vaccine” as it is extremely rich in nutrients and antibodies.
On the other hand, the report said newborns, who started breastfeeding between two and 23 hours after birth, had a 33 percent greater risk of dying as compared to those who started breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
Also, among newborns who started breastfeeding a day or more after birth, the risk was more than twice as high, it added.