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All-island breastfeeding conference highlights significant
health impact of breastfeeding
An all-island breastfeeding conference will take place today
at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. The conference, Breastfeeding
really matters, is the first cross-border breastfeeding event
organised by the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland
(HPA) and the Health Promotion Unit of the Department of
Health and Children, Republic of Ireland, and will be addressed
by international experts in the care of newborn babies.
Keynote
speaker, Dr Nils Bergman, Senior Medical Superintendent
at Mowbray
Maternity Hospital, Cape Town, developed and implemented
Kangaroo Mother Care* (KMC) in South Africa, which resulted
in a five-fold improvement in the survival of very low birth
weight babies. He said: “Breastfeeding is a behaviour
which shapes and sculpts the brain, and that brain shaping
stays for life. Skin-to-skin contact is what the newborn
requires in order for the brain to be shaped in the best
possible way, and breastfeeding in the fullest sense is not
about eating, but about brain growth, and the development
of good relationships. Any other form of care is experienced
by the newborn as separation, and prolonged separation causes
permanent harm to babies’ brains.”
Prof
Stewart Forsyth, Consultant Paediatrician at Ninewells
Hospital and Medical
School, Dundee will address the potential
impact that breastfeeding can have on reducing health inequalities.
He said: “Research undertaken in Dundee has demonstrated
that health outcomes in children are related to infant feeding
practice, with significantly less illness occurring in breastfed
children. The positive effects of breastfeeding were found
to be particularly marked in socially disadvantaged children
who were breastfed and these children tended to have better
health outcomes than children from more affluent families
who had received formula milk.”
Over 300 health professionals, peer workers and voluntary
breastfeeding counsellors from across Ireland are expected
to attend the one day conference which will focus on skin-to-skin
contact, SIDS, bed-sharing and breastfeeding, and reducing
health inequalities through breastfeeding.
Janet
Calvert, Regional Breastfeeding Coordinator with the HPA
said: “Breastfeeding
really does matter and this conference gives us the opportunity
to learn about current
breastfeeding practices in other countries. We have one of
the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe and our predominantly
bottle-feeding culture means that we need to increase awareness
about the importance of breastfeeding and ensure that breastfeeding
is supported within the health service and in society as
a whole.”
Breastfed babies are less likely to have many illnesses,
including stomach, chest and ear infections, as well as asthma,
diabetes and obesity. Breast milk protects premature babies
against serious bowel disorders and ensures better eyesight
and brain development. Mothers who breastfeed have a lower
risk of ovarian and breast cancer, and osteoporosis in later
life.
* Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is a universally available
and biologically sound method of care for all newborns, but
in particular for premature babies. It involves skin-to-skin
contact between mother and baby, exclusive breastfeeding
and keeping mother and baby together at all times.
END
For
further information contact
Rosie McGaughey at the HPA Press Office on 028 9031 1611.
Email: r.mcgaughey@hpani.org.uk.
Website: www.breastfedbabies.org.
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