CMI’s lactation clinicians address common breastfeeding challenges
Since time immemorial, experts have extolled the benefits of breastfeeding. Besides protecting babies against various illnesses due to its perfect blend of nutrients and immunoprotective factors for a growing baby, breast milk offers advantages to a child that extend well beyond infancy—protection from allergies and obesity, among others.
Breastfeeding is a win-win situation for mothers too. This natural form of nourishing a baby is an effective calorie-burner that helps moms lose pregnancy weight faster. It also gets their uterus to return to its original size, lowers the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, and could quite possibly stave off osteoporosis too.
Yet for all it has to offer, breastfeeding isn’t exactly the preferred choice among mothers in the Philippines. In fact, a 2018 study by the Global Breastfeeding Collective shows that only 3 out of 10 mothers in the Philippines (or 34 percent) breastfeed their infants up to six months of age.
What keeps moms from utilizing this nutritious, readily available, and free form of feeding baby? Centre Medicale Internationale (CMI) lactation clinicians Dr. Lei Camiling-Alfonso and Dr. Datangel–Gallardo identified the challenges breastfeeding mothers face and how to overcome them in the CMI webinar “Successful Breastfeeding in the New Normal: Ensuring Safe Lactation for Mothers and Newborns.”
“My baby isn’t getting enough milk.”According to Dr. Datangel–Gallardo, about 35 percent of breastfeeding mothers believe they have Actual Insufficient Milk Supply (AIMS). “But the condition is very rare,” she says. “In fact, international studies say it only comprises 5 percent of all the mothers worldwide.”
Insufficient glandular tissue (IGT)—or breast hypoplasia, another rare condition wherein breasts lack the glands and ducts that produce milk—has also been cited by moms, though again, the lactation clinician believes it’s more a mother’s perception rather than a doctor’s official diagnosis. “Many mothers diagnosed with IGT have been able to continue breastfeeding with proper support, albeit some needed supplementation.”
Admittedly, some conditions do affect the production of breast milk, such as the accidental severing of nerves and ductwork during breast surgery or a lumpectomy. Gestational diabetes, thyroid issues, and polycystic ovarian syndrome may affect lactation, too, acknowledges Dr. Datangel–Gallardo. “But for as long as they are addressed and controlled, they shouldn’t be a problem.”
“My baby doesn’t want me.”If a baby turns his head as if to avoid his mother’s breast or throws a fit with each attempt to breastfeed, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he doesn’t want your milk. “Perhaps the environment is stressful,” says Dr. Datangel–Gallardo, “or he doesn’t like the smell of his mom’s perfume or new laundry detergent.” Switching back and forth from bottle-feeding to breastfeeding may also confuse the baby, leading him to cry or have a tantrum.
