Ris, who recently adopted a newborn baby girl, really wanted to breast-feed her baby.
“The doctor said it was not possible because only pregnancy could trigger the hormones needed to produce milk,” said Ris, leaving her no choice, but to use formula milk.
Donda, who has given birth to four children, has another story. She breast-fed her children as well as using formula milk during their first six months.
“Because they did not look as fat as my friends’ babies who were given formula milk, I thought my milk was not enough for them. Therefore, I also gave them formula milk,” said Donda.
Despite the well-known fact that breast milk is much healthier than formula milk, many women do not feel confident about their ability to breast-feed their children, said the Indonesian Breast-feeding Mother’s Association.
“According to research on breast-feeding, only 1 out of 1,000 women are unable to produce enough breast milk for their babies due to hormonal problems,” said the association chairperson Mia Sutanto.
Mia said that in all other cases, mothers rarely breast-fed their babies, causing a decrease in their milk production.
“Mothers who breast-feed their babies often will also produce more milk,” she said.
According to the World Health Organization, a baby should only be given their mother’s milk during his or her first six months.
After that initial period, a baby can absorb some food, but should still be breast-fed during their first two years.
Breast-feeding hormones are usually stimulated by pregnancy.
Mia said that even mothers who only consumed rice and salt every day would provide more nutrition to their babies through their breast milk than formula milk.
“It is better for mothers to consume nutritious food so they will be able to produce more milk for their children,” she said.
She added that mothers in Jakarta had been deceived by various advertisements about formula milk.
“According to the World Health Organization, formula milk also raises the risk of asthma, allergy, cancer, obesity and even death,” she said.
“The best milk for a baby is their mother’s milk,” Mia said. (mrs)
