Making breast-feeding a righ<\/p>\n
By Maria Endah Hulupi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): After giving birth to a healthy baby at a
\nhospital in East Jakarta, Wati (not her real name) was
\nimmediately deprived of her right to breast-feed by the
\nhospital's nursing staff.<\/p>\n
At feeding hours, Wati was told that she was too weak an was
\nnot allowed to leave her third-floor room to go to the infant
\nward on the ground floor to breast-feed her baby. Meanwhile, the
\nnurses refused to take the baby to her room.<\/p>\n
The hospital staff assured her that her baby was being
\nproperly fed with formula milk, however, to her surprise, she
\nfound that her baby was incredibly weak and had lost 300 grams of
\nbody weight due to diarrhea.<\/p>\n
Indah Suksmaningsih, an activist with the Indonesian Consumers
\nFoundation (YLKI), said that Wati's case is just one of several
\ntypes of violations against mothers' rights to breast-feed their
\nbabies, which are mainly committed in general hospitals and
\nmaternity hospitals.<\/p>\n
There is no official data but Lukman, a staff member at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia's School of Public Health, estimated that
\nthe country's annual birth rate is six million. With two million
\nof those babies being born in the general hospitals and maternity
\nhospitals, those facilities are a captive market for formula milk
\nproducers.<\/p>\n
Indah revealed that violations within hospitals have shifted
\nfrom hospitals facilitating the provision of gift packs
\ncontaining formula milk products to new mothers, to manufacturers
\nencouraging health practitioners to prescribe formula milk for
\nnew mothers.<\/p>\n
All are done in exchange for funding or medical equipment, she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"We'd like to stress that it is the mothers' right to breast-
\nfeed their babies,\" Indah said on the sidelines of a seminar on
\nthe marketing of breast milk substitutes, held by the foundation.<\/p>\n
Aside from the financial and practical advantages of breast-
\nfeeding, breast milk is highly nutritious and helps strengthen a
\nbaby's immune system. It also ensures healthy physical and
\npsychological development as it is proven that physical contact
\nduring breast-feeding is a natural way to establish bonding.<\/p>\n
While stating that the foundation is facing difficulties in
\neducating the public on these benefits, Indah also pointed out
\nthat breast milk substitute manufacturers adopted various tactics
\nto sell their products through practitioners and other marketing
\ninitiatives.<\/p>\n
\"Control should be applied here because it is difficult to
\neducate people about the importance of breast-feeding while the
\nproducers bombard the public with various creative promotional
\nactivities,\" she said, stressing that sanctions should be imposed
\nagainst those found violating regulations governing the marketing
\nof milk substitutes.<\/p>\n
The most deplorable thing is, Indah said, that the Food and
\nDrug Control Board (BPOM) fails to enforce the regulations, as
\nstipulated by Ministerial Decree No. 237\/1997.<\/p>\n
However, Indah explained that the decree contains loopholes
\nthat were often exploited for the interests of manufacturers,
\nwhich often breach the WHO\/UNICEF International Code on marketing
\nbreast milk substitutes. The code underlines that \"there is
\nnothing that equals breast-feeding in providing proper
\nnourishment for infants\".<\/p>\n
Separately, Tien Gartini of the Directorate of Food Safety
\nEvaluation with BPOM admitted that there have been violations by
\nmanufacturers in the promotion and sale of their products.<\/p>\n
\"The transgressions include giving free samples of formula
\nmilk, sponsoring events or activities in exchange for product
\npromotion, or they relate to product discounts and
\nadvertisements,\" she said.<\/p>\n
However, she declined to elaborate on the actions taken by the
\nagency for such violations.<\/p>\n
Juanto Rasjidgandha, vice president of the Indonesian Baby
\nFood Manufacturers' Association (APMB), which groups 14 local and
\ninternational manufacturers, said that its members have to
\nproperly inform the public through pediatricians about breast
\nmilk substitutes.<\/p>\n
\"We are not allowed to educate the public directly but we have
\nto educate pediatricians, as practitioners in the field, on the
\nbenefits and the importance of breast milk substitutes,\" he said,
\nadding that if any violations were found, the association could
\nissue warnings and revoke the manufacturers' association
\nmembership.<\/p>\n
National Board of the Indonesian Society of Pediatricians
\npresident Jose Batubara explained that breast milk substitutes
\nare needed for babies with certain health problems, those
\nrefusing their mothers' breast milk, or babies whose mothers were
\nunable to breast feed them due to any of a number of reasons,
\nsuch as inadequate breast milk production or other health
\nproblems.<\/p>\n
He urged BPOM to be more active in monitoring violations and
\nmisleading product information often shown in ads and promotional
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
\"This is important because some parents are loyal to a brand
\nbecause the ads describe it as penetrating the brain to ensure
\nsmart children,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In an effort to protect mother's rights to breast-feed, Jose
\nsaid the government should provide a private place in offices for
\nworking mothers to pump their milk and store it before it is sent
\nhome or they return home.<\/p>\n
\"Mothers are only given three months of maternity leave, but
\nthis way will ensure that their babies are exclusively fed with
\nbreast milk until their fourth month,\" he added, while stating
\nthat to fulfill babies' daily nutritional requirements, infants
\nshould be breast-fed and given weaning food until they reach two
\nyears old.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/making-breast-feeding-a-righ-1447893297",
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