MBABANE – Fear of losing breast shape is driving some young mothers to avoid breastfeeding, despite its health benefits for mothers and babies.
Listeners on a national radio morning show said some young women, particularly first-time mothers and newly married women, were choosing not to breastfeed because they feared changes to their breasts.The callers said some women believed breastfeeding could cause their breasts to lose shape and affect their appearance. They also raised a common belief that children who are breastfed become more intelligent than those who are not.Health Promotion Officer Sidumo Lukhele, who appeared on the programme alongside Tholakele Mhlanga, advised women against avoiding breastfeeding because of concerns about their appearance.
Lukhele said the female body was naturally structured to undergo pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, which benefit both mother and child.
He explained that breastfeeding begins with colostrum, the thick, yellowish milk produced during the first days after birth. According to Lukhele, colostrum is particularly important to a newborn and should be given during the initial stage of breastfeeding. He said health guidelines recommend that babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months, without supplementary food or water. Lukhele was cautious about the claim that breastfeeding automatically makes children more intelligent. He acknowledged that breastfeeding could contribute to a child’s cognitive development but said it did not work in isolation. As a result, he said it was difficult to definitively establish that breastfeeding alone made children smarter. Research published in the British Medical Journal, however, has found that breastfed children have tended to perform better in tests of intellectual ability than children who were not breastfed. The studies also suggest that mothers who breastfeed are more likely to provide cognitively stimulating and enriched environments for their children, factors that could contribute to improved cognitive performance.
Some studies have further reported a positive relationship between a mother’s intelligence and her decision to breastfeed, making it difficult to attribute differences in children’s intellectual performance to breastfeeding alone.
The World Health Organization says breastfeeding can reduce the risk of infections, diarrhoea and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), while also lowering some long-term health risks.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says breast milk contains antibodies that help protect babies against ear, chest and stomach infections.
It also changes in composition to meet a growing child’s nutritional needs and is associated with a lower risk of conditions such as asthma, obesity and diabetes later in life. Breastfeeding also provides health benefits to mothers. According to the CDC, breastfeeding helps the uterus contract and return to its normal size more quickly after childbirth.
It is also associated with reduced long-term risks of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. The World Health Organization further states that breastfeeding can reduce mothers’ risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Skin-to-skin contact during breastfeeding can also help calm the mother and baby while strengthening their emotional bond. Meanwhile, a caller from Pigg’s Peak praised nurses at the local hospital for involving men whose wives attend the health facility. The caller said nurses welcomed men accompanying their pregnant wives and provided them with guidance on how to support their partners during the breastfeeding period.
The approach, the caller said, helped men understand their role in supporting mothers and their babies beyond pregnancy and childbirth.
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