Health Risks Of Not Breastfeeding For Mothers And Babies

Annually, the first week of August is observed as World Breastfeeding Week, a global healthcare event held in hospitals and health centres to promote the importance of breastfeeding benefits to newborns and mothers.

During the week, various international and local health organizations campaign, educate, defend, and support women’s rights to breastfeed their babies anytime and anywhere.

In the bid to address the complexity of working mothers, the 2023 celebration has its theme as “Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work.”

This year’s campaign also promotes practices that can help support workplace-related breastfeeding in different countries, as breastfeeding is crucial in ensuring a child’s proper growth and development.

In this article, Niaja News looks at the risks mothers and babies not adequately breastfed are prone to if lactation is delayed after delivery.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), babies not breastfed are 14 times more likely to die before their first birthday than exclusively breastfed babies.

Breastmilk is considered the first vaccine for every child, which safeguards infants against life-threatening infections and supports optimal brain development in children, especially in the first 1,000 days.

Risk For Mothers

In an interview with Naija News, a matron nurse, Mary Orjie, in the neonatal department at the Ifako-Ijaye General Hospital, Lagos State, admitted that the era of formula has reduced exclusive breastfeeding among many women and also clarified the misconception that breastfeeding leads to sagging of the breast.

According to her, the breast is held firmly by a muscle, and whether a mother breastfeeds a child or not, the breast will sag whenever the muscle weakens.

She noted that women who do not breastfeed appropriately after delivery risk postpartum bleeding and breast and ovarian cancers.

She said, “Breastfeeding, stops some women from conceiving because the mother may not likely menstruate or ovulate that period. It will help to avoid issues of breast and ovarian cancer and postpartum bleeding. It is also why we encourage men to suck their wife’s breasts even when the mother is not breastfeeding.

“Mothers with the misconception that breastfeeding a child leads to sagging breasts should understand that a muscle is holding the breast, so whether the woman breastfeeds or not, when the muscle gets weak, it will sag.”

Risk For Babies

Mrs Orjie stressed that exclusively breastfed babies have increased immunity as breastmilk contains antibodies that help protect infants from infections and illnesses, creating a robust immune system from an early age.

However, babies not adequately breastfed risk anaemia, infection, sudden infant death, and childhood obesity.

Delayed Production Of Breastmilk

On the delayed production of breastmilk after delivery, Mrs Orjie said such women are not emotionally and psychologically balanced.

“Sometimes these women may not be emotionally and psychologically relaxed from the ordeal of childbirth, so they may not be able to lactate well. It can be body system and lack of energy. Some women experience total lactational failure, so we advise women in such a category to use formula,” she said.

For working mothers juggling between tasks and breastfeeding, Mrs Orjie advised on the need to express breastmilk and feed with a cup and spoon instead of a feeding bottle.

She said, “We encourage using a cup and spoon when expressing breastmilk and not feeding bottles because there are areas you cannot wash very well. Expressed break milk should be stored in a room temperature, or if in the refrigerator/freezer, it must be minus 18 degrees Celsius, and it can last up to 6-12 months”.

The health benefits of breastfeeding cannot be overemphasized, as it also assists in mother-child bonding.

However, even when breastfeeding is less expensive than infant formula, the mothers’ ability to earn an income is not usually factored into calculations, which is the reason many often consider an alternative to it.