BREASTFEEDING

Writing reflective and critical discussion about breastfeeding in midwifery

Writing reflective and critical discussion about breastfeeding in midwifery

Introduction

The process of feeding an infant with the milk produced via lactation from the mother's breast is called Breastfeeding. It is the first substance that a child intakes and it is one of the healthiest substances that a child can be fed during its infant stage. Babies have a natural sucking reflex which allows them to extract milk from the breast and swallow it with ease. Doctors and nutritionists recommend that infants should be fed with milk for at least six to eight months from birth. Many mothers stop breastfeeding at an earlier stage and shift to substitute products that are manufactured to provide babies with similar nutrition but specialists recommend that babies should be breastfed for at least six to eight months on pure breast milk.

In normal cases, breast milk is the healthiest milk that can be given to a baby. Only under certain circumstances can this statement be rejected. For instance, if the mother is on certain medication or if she has some form of disease that can be passed on to the child through the milk then it is highly unadvisable to feed the infant with the mother's milk. In special cases, infants with lactose intolerance are also advised against milk of any form. Mothers with untreated tuberculosis are also advised against feeding their infants with their breast milk.

Midwifery

Another aspect closely related with child birth is Midwifery. Together with breastfeeding, this paper shall also focus on midwifery and how midwives should promote breastfeeding in mothers of the younger generations. Midwifery is a profession of the health care industry which pertains to the care of childbearing women (Towler & Bramall, 1996, P 9). Childbearing women during the stages of labour, pregnancy and birth can be given special care with the help of a trained midwife.

This makes child birth easy and prevents any forms of complication (Epstein, 2008). Furthermore, midwives also assist with the post delivery phase, teaching new mothers how to take care of their new born.

Midwives are mostly females but in rare cases, males also choose to become midwives. In general, midwives provide the following to pregnant women:

Primary care for pregnant women

Women care related to reproduction

Family planning and counselling

Menopausal care

Annual gynaecological examination

The World Health Organization, together with many other institutions for the support and welfare of pregnant women emphasize on the importance of breastfeeding and encourage midwives to teach breastfeeding to young mothers and communicate the importance of breastfeeding to these mothers. Many midwife courses now include breastfeeding as a key element of their curriculum and insist that midwives teach mothers to breastfeed with children for at least 6 to 8 months.

The AAP (American Association of Pediatrics) suggests that breasfeeding should be continued as a supplement diet for at least 1.5 years from birth.

Discussion

It is important for midwives to be trained properly for them to communicate the importance of breastfeeding to pregnant mothers (Baumslag & Michels, 1995, P ...