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Mother-infant interaction smoothens breastfeeding: Expert
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For the sake of children’s health – Mothers attend a breastfeeding class held by the Indonesian Breastfeeding Mothers Association in Lampung recently. (Antara/-)
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kin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn baby minutes after birth helps to stimulate the release of breast milk and will eventually lead to successful exclusive breastfeeding, according to an expert.
“Such interaction should happen within one hour after the baby is born. That will help the mother’s breast milk flow smoothly,” the Health Ministry’s public nutrition director, Doddy Izwardy, said Saturday.
Some mothers faced difficulties in the early initiation of breastfeeding, with their breast milk not flowing after giving birth, he explained, adding that early skin-to-skin contact could prevent this problems.
Doddy said husbands and families should encourage new mothers, especially working mothers, to exclusively breastfeed their babies for at least six months rather than feed them instant formula.
The 2009 health law stipulates that during the breast-feeding period, families, employers and the government as well as the wider community must support mothers by giving them special breastfeeding time and facilities, both at the workplace and in public areas.
Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek previously said that the rate of exclusively breastfed babies in Indonesia had risen from 42 percent in 2013 to 65 percent in 2016. (wnd/ebf)
