“Direct breastfeeding is the best medium for providing breast milk to babies. The baby will get breast milk as needed, besides that breastfeeding can increase the bonding relationship between mother and baby,” said Fajar Tri Waluyanti, Ns, Sp.Kep.An, IBCLC, a pediatric nursing specialist lecturer at the Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Indonesia.
She recommends breastfeeding in the best way, which is by direct breastfeeding, because the body produces milk according to the baby’s needs. When the baby is exposed to an infectious environment such as a family member who is coughing and close to the baby, the breast milk produced by the mother will contain many anti-infective substances. According to her, direct breastfeeding also helps reduce the risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and restores the uterus to its original size.
“Breastfeeding should continue and should not be interrupted. If Mommy is experiencing symptoms or confirmed Covid-19, Mommy can still provide breast milk by following the Covid-19 prevention protocol. However, if the condition is not possible, Mommy can provide expressed breast milk. Family support and health workers are needed,” Fajar said. “Mom’s mood and spirituality must be paid close attention to, because psychological disorders can significantly affect breast milk production,” Fajar said again.
Support and encouragement for breastfeeding mothers to provide exclusive breastfeeding should continue to be encouraged, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Quoting from the kemenkes.go.id page, it is stated that scientifically in mothers who are confirmed positive it turns out that in their breast milk flows Immunoglobulin A and G antibodies, Lactalbumin, Lactoferrin, and so on which are specifically a stronghold of resistance to SARS-CoV-2. Whereas in mothers who have been vaccinated with Covid-19, it was found that the level of SARS-CoV-2 specific slgA antibodies in breast milk increased rapidly within 14 days after the first dose of vaccination, became stronger after week 4 and measured higher at weeks 5 and 6.
This year, World Breastfeeding Week, which is held every August 1-7, has the theme “Step Up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support”. Through this theme, World Breastfeeding Week aims to remind Indonesian mothers of the importance of knowledge and support in successful breastfeeding. The most important benefit of exclusive breastfeeding is that it can support and help the baby’s brain and physical development process. This is because, at the age of 0 to 6 months, babies are not allowed to consume any nutrients other than breast milk. Therefore, for six consecutive months, the breast milk given to the baby certainly has a great impact on the baby’s brain and physical growth during the future.
Breast milk is the best source of nutrition and has clinically proven benefits in saving lives. Not only does breast milk protect children from various diseases, it also shows better results in intelligence tests and reduces the risk of childhood obesity.
Breastfeeding will also realize good economic, social, and environmental development in the future. Breast milk is given exclusively for the first six months from the day a baby is born, followed by complementary foods until the age of 2 years. The success of six months of exclusive breastfeeding can be realized with strong motivation, knowledge of mothers and families about breastfeeding, continuous effort, and support from close people, and health workers.
Exclusive breastfeeding also has benefits for breastfeeding mothers, one of which is overcoming trauma. With the presence of a baby for the first time can be an encouragement for a mother’s life as well as can eliminate the trauma of childbirth.
Postpartum mothers are usually prone to baby blues syndrome, moreover it usually happens to mothers who are not accustomed to or even willing to provide exclusive breastfeeding for their babies. By breastfeeding, the trauma will slowly disappear and the mother will get used to breastfeeding her baby.
