T

he practice of breast-feeding exclusively is hindered by myths among lower and middle income people in West Kalimantan. Data from the Pontianak municipality shows that the exclusive breast-feeding rate amounts to just 70 percent.

Dian Rakhmawati, head of the West Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesia Breast-feeding Mothers Association’s (AIMI) education division, told The Jakarta Post that residents, especially those living along the Kapuas River, were still influenced by exposure to informal, or unscientific, information and believed false notions on the benefits of breast milk.

“The myths include the idea that women who have just completed outdoor activities should not breastfeed their baby because the breast milk will have gone stale. They prefer to give canned milk for reasons of practicality,” said Dian, who participated, along with about 1,000 residents, in the 2016 World Breast-feeding Week at the Sultan Syarif Abdurrahman Stadium in Pontianak.

“Some people also abstain from eating food, such as salted fish, chili and egg because they believe they are not good for breast-feeding mothers, whereas in fact any food is permitted to support the health of nursing mothers,” said Dian, adding that the organization’s educational activities were carried out in a “guerrilla” fashion by visiting a number of pockets of poverty.

The Pontianak municipality, supported by World Vision of Indonesia (WVI), promotes the practice of breast-feeding exclusively in the initial six months of infancy and with complementary foodstuffs until the baby reaches the age of 2.

Pontianak Health Agency head Sidiq Handanu said the level of exclusive breast-feeding had reached 70 percent of the number of births. The number of live births in the city ranges from 12,000 to 14,000 annually. The infant mortality rate at birth has also been reduced to the range of 50 to 60 per 100,000 live births, which is much lower than the national rate of 350 deaths per 100,000 births.

“A mayoral regulation requires companies and offices to provide a lactation room for working mothers,” said Sidiq.

WVI, working in 48 regions across Indonesia, provides focused counseling in the Pontianak and Sambas regencies in West Kalimantan in nutritional programs, one of which promotes exclusive breast-feeding. WVI project manager Yosellina said breast-feeding should be provided during the “critical period” until the age of 2.

“We will carry this out by strengthening the capacity of members of integrated health services posts [posyandu], by involving many different kinds of stakeholders and by not limiting mothers who are breast-feeding,” said Yosellina, adding that counseling was being conducted at 32 posyandu across Pontianak.

In Sambas regency, WVI encourages ordinary people to become counselors by forming volunteer housewife associations that can find patterns of communication that match with local conditions. These counselors have been trained to disseminate information.

The HSBC Group provides support for programs implemented in Surabaya, Pontianak and Jakarta. HSBC business banking head Edwin Rudianto said the support would be provided for three years.

“The programs we support include public education on maternal and child health and the promotion of exclusive breast-feeding,” said Edwin.