Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne is hoping the government will reach an amicable agreement with the private sector to stop advertising breast milk substitutes (formula and food) for mothers of infants below six months of age.
“Alternative milk should be available but it does not offer the same advantages as breast milk. We need a culture change – the first option should always be breastfeeding,” he said.
The government, he continued, must work with the industry to deliver a consistent message that breast is best.
“I hope we won’t be forced to enact a legal notice and send wardens to patrol doctors’ clinics to make sure that breast milk substitutes are not being advertised.
“But if need be, we will enact legislation to enforce it.”
Dr Fearne was speaking yesterday at the national breastfeeding consultation seminar, which discussed the draft National Breastfeeding Policy launched two months ago.
The health authorities are encouraging breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months and continuing breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods until two years and beyond, or as long as the mother and baby wish. According to scientific evidence, breastfeeding increased bonding and reduced the risks of infections and allergies. It also reduced the incidence of overweight children and adults.
Breastfeeding rates in Malta are among the lowest in Europe, with between 50 and 60 per cent of babies born at Mater Dei being breast fed while in hospital.
“That’s already a low figure. When the mother goes back into the community, she will come across barriers and that rate will drop,” Health Promotion director Charmaine Gauci said. She explained that the policy will include training healthcare professionals who come into contact with mothers as some were still promoting formula feeding over breast.
She also called for workplaces to have a breastfeeding room in cases where the mother is allowed to bring along her infant. If not, Dr Gauci continued, workplaces should still be equipped with such a room so that the mother could extract breast milk to take home.
“In order for the body to keep producing milk, it needs to be done regularly. A mother can’t just wait until the evening to breastfeed her child.
“Also, there’s nothing wrong with breast feeding on a bus or in public places.”
In an initiative the government is encouraging other local councils to take up, the Paola local council has set up a breast feeding room which will be open to the public to be used to breastfeed infants in privacy or for nappy changing.
Dr Gauci also emphasised the support which should be given to women who were unable to breastfeed so as not to be made to feel guilty.
Commissioner for Mental Health John Cauchi, who formed part of the audience of stakeholders, also called for sensitivity and care in the event that women were unable to breastfeed, as they could be prone to developing depression.
One midwife present called for the phasing out of the “milk grant”, where formula milk was provided to women on social benefits, while another said that Malta’s high rate of caesarean sections and induced labour should first be targeted.
Attendance to the Parentcraft Courses also needed to be upped, particularly early pregnancy courses as most mothers would be already in their 28th week of pregnancy by the time they visited Parentcraft.