Benefits of breast milk highlighted

THE number of deaths among under-five-year-old children could be reduced by 20% if they are breastfed for more than two years.

This was said by health executive director Ben Nangombe during the inauguration of the Namibian Breast Milk Bank (NBMB) in Windhoek yesterday.

“If all infants are placed immediately skin-to-skin, breastfed exclusively for six months and then still breastfed for up to two years or longer with age-appropriate complementary feeding, under-five mortality would be reduced by at least 13% to 20% in Namibia,” he said.

He also encouraged the community to ensure that women are supported to breastfeed babies for the first six months of their lives.

The NBMB is an initiative of private paediatricians – medical practitioners specialising in children and their diseases – that became operational in April 2018. The milk in the bank is donated by lactating mothers.

The milk bank provides donated breast milk to babies whose mothers cannot produce milk or those infected with HIV.

Nangombe said breast milk helps newborn babies to receive natural antibodies, giving them a fair chance of living a healthy life.

Donating breast milk should therefore be seen as an investment into the future of Namibia, Nangombe said.

The director added that the importance of breastfeeding includes reducing the mothers’ risk of bleeding after birth and the, risk of breast and ovarian cancers. He also added that it improves the health, social and economic status of individuals as breast milk is free.

NBMB aims to increase the number of donor mothers and babies who access donor breast milk. It further aims to decrease the risk involved with donor breast milk by using the best sterilisation and pasteurisation methods.

Dr Wilson Benjamin, a paediatrician involved with NBMB explained the importance of breast milk.

“Breast milk contains all the nutrients required for optimum growth of any child,” he said.

He further explained that unlike formula milk, breast milk is specially designed to integrate information and is important for the development of the infant’s brain.

Sister Birgit Meyer one of those spearheading the initiative, clarified that the NBMB works on the same principle as a blood bank, and that mothers are also required to undergo screening to ensure that the milk they donate is safe for babies.

“These days we do rapid tests for HIV and hepatitis B, and if that screening is negative, then they can bring us the milk and we pasteurise it,” she said.

She further applauded the donors of the breast milk for their selflessness.