NEWS

 

Aug 06, 2006 - 00:59:12 CDT

Valley Morning Star Online Edition

The Healthy Choice

Doctors tout breast-feeding benefits for mother, child 

By MELISSA McEVER
melissam@valleystar.com
The worries that stop many new mothers from breast-feeding didn't stop Jessica Sargent.

She was surprised that it hurt when her son first started breast-feeding, but then she learned how to encourage the baby to nurse properly. She was discouraged when nurses at the hospital told her she was taking too long to produce milk, but she refused the bottle when they offered it. Armed with books on breastfeeding and its benefits, Sargent was determined to try.

Today, Sargent has two healthy sons, and she believes that breast-feeding helped them to thrive.

"I decided to nurse my older son because I felt it was the healthiest thing I could do for him," Sargent, an Edinburg resident, said. "With my younger one, it was just natural to nurse him because I had nursed his brother."

Doctors tout breast-feeding as the healthiest option for babies, citing numerous benefits for mother and child. Studies have suggested that babies who are breast-fed have fewer infections and could be at lower risk for sudden infant death, diabetes, obesity and asthma.

Women who breast-feed recover from pregnancy more quickly, lose baby weight more easily and could be at decreased risk of breast or ovarian cancer. Yet, experts say that too few women breast-feed their children, and that it could be even lower in the Rio Grande Valley.

In a 2003 national survey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about 70 percent of children whose families were surveyed had been breast-fed at some point. Only 36 percent of the children still were breast-fed at 6 months of age.

Studies also suggest that Hispanic women along the border, especially those who have lived in the United States for a while, are less likely to breast-feed than their counterparts in Mexico. Researchers at Duke University concluded that women born in the United States were 85 percent less likely to breastfeed than foreign-born mothers, and that women became less likely to breastfeed the longer they lived in the United States.

Researchers at the Brownsville regional campus of the UT School of Public Health are working on a major study of breastfeeding practices on both sides of the border. Although the results of that study are not yet available, investigator Linda McDonald found in a smaller study that several Valley women didn't follow through on their intentions to breastfeed.

"We asked them why, and most say they don't want to bother with it," said McDonald, an assistant professor of nursing. "It's work - it's hard to do."

Mothers give all kinds of reasons why they don't keep breastfeeding or never start, said Ruth Smith, who leads a La Leche League group in McAllen. The group meets once a month to teach new mothers about breastfeeding and to answer their questions.

"They say they didn't have enough milk, or the doctor said to quit because they had started medication, or that it was too hard," Smith said.

Some women can't breastfeed because of illness or because they're taking medications, but those instances are few, said Dr. Brian Smith, director for Texas Department of State Health Services' Region 11, which includes the Valley.

Most medications typically prescribed to nursing mothers don't affect the milk supply, according to a policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Exceptions include illegal drugs and possibly some psychiatric medications.

Women also have little cultural support for breastfeeding, Ruth Smith said. On television, through friends and family, even sometimes at the hospital, the message is to bottle-feed, she said.

"It's the American thing," Ruth Smith said.

The health-care system in the Valley is set up to discourage breastfeeding, Dr. Brian Smith said.

Dr. Smith said that hospitals, doctors' offices and county programs are too readily offering infant formula to mothers and not educating them on breastfeeding. He called for hospitals to have more nurses trained in breastfeeding education and more lactation consultants, and for doctors to take more time to educate women.

"They're discharged from the hospital quickly, and there's not much time for teaching," Dr. Smith said. "Then the mothers are handed a big pile of brochures and a big case of formula. The indirect message, no matter what anyone says, is to give (the baby) formula."

Most hospitals in the region hand out formula samples, provided by the companies, to mothers, acknowledged hospital representatives. But some facilities also have full-time lactation consultants who offer breastfeeding education to women. These consultants say that they encourage women who have said they don't want to breastfeed to reconsider.

"We don't want to guilt them into it," said Beverly Sossi, a registered nurse and lactation consultant at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen. "We just want to make sure they make an informed decision ... Most (patients) don't need a lot of coaching - just a lot of encouragement."

Breastfeeding women at Valley Baptist don't receive formula samples in their take-home bags, but the hospital won't refuse to offer samples to women who request them, Sossi said.

The Hidalgo County WIC program also gives out free cans of formula, but only after urging them to consider breastfeeding, director Norma Longoria said.

"We can't force a woman to breastfeed if she doesn't want to," Longoria said.

The WIC program does rent breast pumps to women who are returning to work, she said.

Some women want to have the formula "just in case" they need it, said Veronica Riojas, lactation consultant and nutritionist for WIC. Providing both options puts the decision in women's hands, she said.

"It's the right of the woman to decide which way she wants to go, but it's our responsibility to tell them which is best," Riojas said.

A coalition of advocates, clinics and providers is planning a seminar at Knapp Medical Center to educate nurses and the public on breastfeeding benefits. Eventually, the coalition wants to push for hospitals to become "baby-friendly" - a term coined by the World Health Organization - and limit formula samples and advertising in the facilities.

Smith, of La Leche League, hopes that more Valley women will try breastfeeding their children.

"It helps mothers and babies in so many ways ... it gives them a good start as a mother," she said.

 

EVENTS

FREE COMMUNITY BABY SHOWER TO BE HELD THIS SATURDAY AT VALLEY BAPTIST IN HARLINGEN

A free "Community Baby Shower" featuring free information for expectant mothers, healthy snacks, door prizes, giveaways and educational demonstrations will be held this Saturday, July 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen.

The event will be held in the Valley Baptist's East Tower (the side of the hospital facing Treasure Hills Boulevard and marked by blue banners and signs), on the 3rd Floor, Classroom B. The Community Baby Shower is designed to answer questions that an expectant mother may have about having a baby -- whether she is a first-time mom or welcoming a new edition to her family. Information will be provided on the services offered by Valley Baptist's Women's Services and Pediatrics departments.

In addition, there will be information on classes, seminars, and easy 1-2-3 information for expectant mothers, as well as tours of the childbirth and maternity areas of the hospital. Dr. Roseller Tapangan will speak on "Care of Your Newborn," while Susan Wallace, Trauma Coordinator for VBMC-Harlingen, will demonstrate proper use of car seats. Additional information will be provided by doulas (lay coaches for labor during childbirth); lactation consultants; Valley Baptist's Cord Blood Program; certified birth educators; and Bright Babies Sign Language Instruction. To register for the event, call 1-888-902-LIFE. Valley Baptist Health System