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Nurses deny they push formula milk
Medical workers at community health centers (Puskesmas) in North Jakarta said they advised mothers to breast-feed, rejecting reports that midwives had encouraged formula milk for newborn babies
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Medical workers at community health centers (Puskesmas) in North Jakarta said they advised mothers to breast-feed, rejecting reports that midwives had encouraged formula milk for newborn babies.
Ani, a midwife from Koja community health center, said she always encouraged new mothers to breast-feed their babies.
"I don't think all nurses suggest formula milk for newborn babies. At my community health center, we don't have any formula milk, not even free samples of it," she said.
Another nurse, who requested anonymity, said she also promoted breast milk.
"If the baby keeps crying, the doctor will suggest the mother feed it formula milk. Of course, people trust doctors more than nurses," she said.
Both nurses spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a two-day seminar organized by Mercy Corps to promote the importance of breast-feeding to community health center midwives and nurses.
The seminar was in response to a 2007 survey conducted by Mercy Corps that showed that most mothers in North Jakarta fed their babies formula milk before even trying to breast-feed.
"We found that only 28 percent of women (in North Jakarta) breast-feed their babies," said Dr. Fransiska Mardiananingsih from Mercy Corps.
The survey also revealed that formula milk was given by nurses and midwives at health centers or hospitals.
"The survey, which involved 300 women, showed that most women said they could not breast-feed and the nurses usually suggested formula milk," she added.
She said most nurses were probably reluctant to assist their patients in breast-feeding.
"Some of the mothers are poor," said Dr. B Wirastari Marnoto, a pediatrician, "but they buy formula milk because nurses fed their newborn babies formula milk."
According to the Mercy Corps survey, more than 63 percent of medical practitioners in North Jakarta suggested formula milk for newborn babies, with practitioner's midwives making up 26 percent, nurses 15 percent, midwives at public clinics 12 percent and midwives at hospitals 9.7 percent.
