Breastfeeding woes: a family physician’s approach

Le résumé fourni par la source

WHAT IS BREASTFEEDING?Breastfeeding is the process of feeding a mother's breast milk to her infant, either directly from the breast or after expression.(1) Breastfeeding and breast milk provide an infant with calories and nutrients, including macronutrients (fat, protein and carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).( 2) HOW RELEVANT IS THIS TO MY PRACTICE?The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) strongly advise exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, followed by the introduction of adequate and safe complementary foods with continued breastfeeding up to two years and beyond.(3) This is also advocated by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, and is supported by the Ministry of Health, Singapore.(4)(5)(6)(7)(8) Exclusive breastfeeding offers a multitude of benefits to both mother and child.Benefits to the infant include decreased risk of asthma, atopic dermatitis, gastroenteritis and otitis media, as well as a lower risk of childhood leukaemia, obesity and both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus.There is also a lower risk of necrotising enterocolitis and sudden infant death syndrome in preterm babies.Maternal benefits include decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, cardiometabolic disease (Type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiovascular disease) and postpartum depression.Successful breastfeeding can also positively influence the bond between the mother and the child.(9,10) Locally, according to the National Breastfeeding Survey in 2011, 50.3% of mothers exclusively breastfed their children on the day of discharge; however, the rate plunged to 0.8% at six months after delivery.(11) These figures clearly show that our new mothers have ongoing challenges that need to be addressed in order to achieve the recommended breastfeeding duration of six months.

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