SRHR Adventures PROMOTES breastfeeding campaign

A breastfeeding mom once said, “Breastfeeding is more than just feeding your baby. It is determination, love and patience. Some days can be really exhausting. Caring for a baby who seems to only want you for your breasts but when the baby stops nursing for that few seconds to look up at you and smile that is when you realise that you aren’t just feeding your baby but providing comfort, love and a loving bond only you can give.”

This loving bond is just the tip of the hectic work schedule of a mother who tries to sleep while the baby is sleeping, or uses that time to complete chores or any other important thing that needs to get done. During which time, it seems as if only five minutes have elapsed before the baby is awake again.

Eventually, you will become a “mombie” (a sleep-deprived breastfeeding mother that one must approach with caution) who will appreciate a few luxuries such as sleep, time to shower, a hot meal and relaxation.

The laws of Guyana, like many other countries, often limit the male’s role in the breastfeeding process and early childcare by not providing paternity leave thereby restricting men from assisting as they should. But by learning about the benefits of breastfeeding, your knowledge, enthusiasm and support will help to boost the confidence of your partner in difficult times. Additionally, they can offer support by: 
1. Burping the baby after breastfeeding.
2. Nurturing a bond with their child through skin to skin contact.
3. Bottle feeding the baby with expressed breast milk or in the case where babies cannot be fed with breast milk, bottle feed baby with breast milk substitute.
4. Help to change diapers, bathe baby and put baby to sleep.
5. Prepare a healthy meal for your partner and encourage her to drink lots of water.
Colin Christopher Maxwell who resides at Laing Avenue and is a father of one believes that men should support breastfeeding since it will provide a great opportunity for a man to develop greater love while bonding with his family. “From day one, a father will know how hard and tiring it can be to look after a newborn especially when it is your first child and will never think about neglecting his family,” stated Maxwell.

In an interview about the importance of paternity leave, Dr Travis Freeman, who works at the Ministry of Public Health and is also a father of one said, “Paternity leave would make fathers feel more involved in the caring and raising of the baby since society often time excludes men deliberately or not from the caring process like changing napkins, feeding baby or even visiting the health facilities with or without the mother. If a father shows up with the baby for the doctor’s visit, he is automatically asked where the baby’s mother is and why isn’t she here.’ He believes that “a stronger and earlier psychological bond would have been created parallel to that of my wife through breastfeeding and there would have been lesser pressure on my wife since I would have been able to offset most of the tasks.”
This year, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) observed World Breastfeeding Week from August 1 -7 under the theme: Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding.
The World Health Organization (WHO) along with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners are working to promote family-friendly policies to enable breastfeeding and help parents nurture and bond with their children through enacting paid maternity leave for a minimum of 18 weeks and paid paternity leave so as to encourage shared responsibilities on an equal basis.

However, while we wait for such policies, the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Adventures organisation encourages men to support their partners during breastfeeding because the greatest formula for breastfeeding is: breast milk plus mommy’s and daddy’s support.

Dr. Faqueeda Watson-Jones
Coordinator for SRHR Adventures
2018 Women Deliver Young Leader