Bakersfield’s Babies Not off to the Healthiest Start
In a community this size, with over 11,000 births recorded in 2012, we clearly need to get the breastfeeding patterns under control. Half of the babies born in Kern County are no longer exclusively breastfeeding by the time they leave the hospital — that’s an average of 24–48 hours after birth. Even more babies lose their exclusively breastfed status once they follow up with the pediatrician or clinic at 3 or 4 days of age.
This is not just “personal choice to feed formula” creating this situation. This is fundamental misunderstanding of the normal newborn by parents, and it is confounded by poor breastfeeding support and misinformation leading to loss of confidence in breastfeeding.
A relatively tiny army of IBCLCs, lactation educators, WIC nutritionists, and other lactation support providers work diligently to support moms and babies on their breastfeeding journey. These providers have the lactation education and training to assist mothers beyond just the basics of latching, and the IBCLCs have hundreds of hours of didactic training alongside thousands of hours of clinical experience, giving them the capability to assist in complex breastfeeding situations such as prematurity, maternal obesity and hormone dysfunction, and infant suck/swallow disorders. However, many spend most of their time providing basic breastfeeding education and management skills which should be coming from other care providers.
Stacks of scientific evidence show again and again that health outcomes are not as good for infants fed formula — even just a little bit of formula. It is not a living, dynamic fluid and does not contain the same nutrients. It does not build the infant’s immune system or stimulate growth and development of the digestive and other organ systems. It does not contain antibodies to germs and microbes living alongside mom and baby. It can be prepared incorrectly, rendering it unsafe, and it can be contaminated during the manufacturing or preparation processes. Feeding formula offers no direct health benefits to mothers. These are known risks of formula feeding, yet are seldom discussed under the ever-present threat of “making people feel guilty.” Public health messages use strong words to make sure babies are in car seats and to dissuade people from smoking. It’s not appropriate to scare parents, but it is appropriate to provide informed consent, meaning that known risks must be clearly stated and alternate options offered if someone appears to be choosing a less healthy choice, in the same way that healthcare providers would suggest an obese person lose weight rather than continuing an unhealthy practice.
In Kern County, our community lacks basic breastfeeding resources like access to high-quality rental pumps and drop-in breastfeeding clinics for those not qualifying for WIC services. This community is far too big to be struggling to accomodate these basic needs. The resources we have are amazing, from WIC, to a new Kaiser Permanente breastfeeding clinic for members, to experienced, compassionate IBCLCs working in hospitals, to dedicated and well-trained La Leche League leaders, to the Kern County Breastfeeding Coalition working on special projects, and more.
These services can and must be expanded as this county’s population continues to grow. Mothers are turning to formula without even a second thought because of a lack of basic education about infant feeding and health. The “small army” of lactation care providers needs layers of support to keep up with the sheer volume of births here. Here are some of the things which could help change those breastfeeding rates:
- Obstetricians actively teaching about breastfeeding during routine prenatal visits and encouraging new parents to attend breastfeeding classes before their baby is born
- Parents taking the time to actively choose pediatricians before their baby is born, carefully considering whom they will consult for up-to-date medical advice for their precious child
- Pediatricians and other healthcare providers (emergency medicine providers, family practitioners, etc) honing their breastfeeding knowledge to provid better breastfeeding information and help mothers recognize when they need advanced lactation care — and actively referring them for that care
- Full Baby-Friendly certification of ALL birthing hospitals in Kern County to ensure action is taken to maintain exclusive breastfeeding during the hospital experience
- Family and friends of expectant and new parents actively supporting their loved ones to keep moms and babies nurtured and encouraging them to attend mother-to-mother support groups
- Labor/Delivery and postpartum staff who actively practice strategies like The First 100 Hours to give mothers skills and techniques to feed only breastmilk and avoid formula
- Other healthcare providers who actively seek up-to-date information about breastfeeding and medical conditions/medications/procedures, rather than guessing, ordering moms to wean or to “pump-and-dump” or providing outdated or incorrect breastfeeding information
- Employers who truly, actively support their employees who need time and space to pump milk for their babies for at least the first year
- Stores and restaurants which actively assist families and mothers by following the law and NEVER harassing nursing mothers or asking them to cover up or leave
- Investors to donate or invest actively in the establishment of a breastfeeding clinic open to all community members
- Financial support from community members to quickly and efficiently establish a pump rental location to actively accomodate those families who do not qualify for WIC but do not make enough money to purchase the high-quality pump they need
Acting yet? All of those suggestions “actively” promote action and effort on the part of everyone to improve this situation.
Helping mothers to avoid unnecessary use of formula is an imperative to public health. The implications of everyone working together are tremendous: if hospital staff appropriately supports exclusively breastfeeding in the hospital, then the pediatric staff appropriately supports exclusively breastfeeding in the follow-up care appointments, and mother’s caregivers provide appropriate information and support for exclusive breastfeeding, the cycle of exclusivity is preserved. But if one link in that chain is broken, exclusivity is lost.
Don’t be the broken link!
Ideas? Comments? Care to discuss this further? Please contact us at info@bakersfieldbreastfeeds.com
The breastfeeding rates mentioned in this article were released in Aug 2013 by the California Department of Public Health in collaboration with UC Davis and are publicly available online.
You can also find more information about getting involved in the Bakersfield Lactation Support Community by visiting www.centralvalleylactation.weebly.com or www.bakersfieldbreastfeeds.com.
2013. Christine Staricka, IBCLC, RLC, CCE
