A child's health begins with mom

Page 20

Recently, a formal inquiry was ordered by the Manitoba Human Rights Commission to determine whether a woman has the right to breastfeed her baby in public. This inquiry will barely have an impact in the Aboriginal community, according to a study being conducted by researchers in Winnipeg.

According to a group of Manitoba's leading neonatal health care providers, breastfeeding could limit infection, allergies, and illness in newborns, but many Aboriginal women are not doing it.

Kathy Hamelin, a neonatal nurse at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre, said the hospital's research -- which is mid-way through its 12-month study - indicates that the majority of Aboriginal women don't recognize the benefits associated with breast milk.

"We have been trying to stress the benefits of breast milk to Aboriginal mothers, simply because we know that Aboriginal infant health is often less than non-Aboriginal infants. A primary example is that they see significant development of respiratory infections," she said.

Recently compiled data collected from 90 Aboriginal families at the Children's Clinic at the Health Sciences Centre indicates the majority of mothers who initiated breastfeeding while in hospital for postpartum stay discontinued breastfeeding before the infant was two weeks old.

These statistics are cause for concern, according to health care professionals at Winnipeg's Women's Hospital. While in the hospital's care and also through peer counselling and follow-up inquiries, a new program aims to encourage Manitoba's Aboriginal women to breastfeed their newborn infants.

"We are stressing that breastfeeding infants means healthier babies, healthier moms and better finances," said Hamelin.

Breast milk has been found to decrease incidences of diabetes, reduce stress in the newborn's mother, and reduce the financial burden associated with buying formula.

Research indicates that, contrary to the popular perception, the maternal diet does not affect the quality of breast milk.

"One time when I was right in bed with the flu, my baby stayed right there beside me. I was sicker than anything and he nursed whenever he wanted. He didn't even get sick," one mother said.

This mother's enthusiasm for breastfeeding is a rarity in Aboriginal communities, where studies indicate that it is no longer a practice passed from one generation to the next.

Hamelin said that the reluctance to breastfeed is not exclusively a Canadian Aboriginal phenomenon, but is a global reality. This is attributed, in part, she said, to the pharmaceutical and sexual revolutions.

"Women, in general, were profoundly affected by these factors. The [pharmaceutical] revolution capitalized on the scientific way of bringing up babies, which included baby formula, and the women's movement revolution took women into the workplace and therefore created a need for convenience [bottle feeding]. This affected all modern mothers, including Aboriginal women," she commented.

Modern trends however are indicating that a more traditional wave of child rearing is experiencing resurgence. Hamelin explained that evidence of how superior breastfeeding is in terms of the preservation of resources and the environment are factors that influence today's mothers.

The challenge lies, she said, in encouraging Aboriginal women to initiate and continue breastfeeding their children even after leaving the hospital environment.

"We have created culturally relevant literature for Aboriginal mothers. We have provided access to Aboriginal peer counsellors. What we've found is that Aboriginal mothers will more readily communicate their concerns to these counsellors as opposed to regular nursing staff. This alone has created positive results," she added.

Hamelin said the preliminary results have indicated the majority of women who receive follow-up counselling regularly have demonstrated a greater commitment to continue breastfeeding than those who are not counselled.

The final results of the stud should be completed by early 2000 when the data will be analyzed and the need for a permanent program will be determined.

"We are hoping it's ongoing so that we can expand to rural communities where they have initiated similar studies. We've seen a good response so far, so we're optimistic," said Hamelin.