Child Development and Public Health

I chose breastfeeding because I feel it is important and beneficial to babies.  I also breastfed both of my children and know some of the challenges that come along with breastfeeding. I breastfed my son for six months and my daughter for one year.  Breastfeeding is work but it is well worth the work.  I believe it is important for employers to be supportive of mothers who are breastfeeding.  If you can get a good routine down then it is actually very convenient. I believe breastfeeding does create a special bond between the child and mother. 

When I was researching about breastfeeding I was surprised at the low number of babies in the United States that are still exclusively  breastfed by the time they are three months old.  While 75 percent of American babies are initially breastfed, only 35 percent are being breastfed exclusively at 3 months. This is true not only in the United States but all over the world.  I chose to look more closely at Norway because it is a nation that has a very high percentage of breastfed babies.  In Norway 99 percent of babies are breastfed initially and 70 percent are breastfed exclusively at 3 months.  The parental leave policy that Norwegian mothers receive probably has a lot to do with the high breastfeeding success.  According to Save the Children (2012) Norwegian mothers enjoy one of the most generous parental leave policies in the developed world. After giving birth, mothers can take up to 36 weeks off work with 100 percent of their pay, or they may opt for 46 weeks with 80 percent pay (or less if the leave period is shared with the father). In addition, Norwegian law provides for up to 12 months of additional child care leave, which can be taken by both fathers and mothers. When they return to work, mothers have the right to nursing breaks as they need them.

Breastfeeding can have a big impact on a child’s health and future health.  

Experts recommend that children be breastfed within one hour of birth, exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months, and then breastfed until age 2 with age-appropriate, nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods. Optimal feeding according to these standards can prevent an estimated 19 per- cent of all under-5 deaths, more than any other child survival intervention.  Yet worldwide, the vast majority of children are not breastfed optimally (Gareth, Steketee, Black, Bhutta and Morris (2003). 

It is always important to remember the impact good nutrition can have on a baby and a child.  A child’s nutritional wellbeing can have an impact on their ability to learn in a classroom. 

References

Jones, Gareth, Richard Steketee, Robert E. Black, Zulfiqar Bhutta, and Saul Morris. “How Many Child Deaths Can We Prevent This Year?” The Lancet. Vol. 362, Issue 9377. July 5, 2003. pp.65-71.

Save the Children. (2012). Nutrition in the first 1,000 days.  State of the World’s Mothers 2012. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.ca/document.doc?id=195.