Sensitive Midwifery - Issue 44 - October 2019

Breast assurance Child and Adolescent Development tutor Petro Wagner asks, if breast is best, why is it sometimes considered ‘bad’? Normalising breastfeeding in public E xclusive breastfeeding until six months has significantly increased over the past two decades in South Africa: only 7% of six-month- old infants were exclusively breastfed in 1998 compared to 32% in 2016. However, these figures still paint a picture that is far from optimal as the vast majority of South African babies under six months are not exclusively breastfed. It is evident that women still face many obstacles which hinder them from reaching the ideal of exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued nursing until two years and beyond. One challenge is that small babies need to feed often, while these little gulpers’ mothers (who are also the producers and vessels of their food) need to leave their homes from time to time. This is not necessarily a problem, except that dishing up this convenient refreshment in public entails what some see as a form of nudity – and this makes some mothers and onlookers feel uneasy. If dedicated nursing mothers feel threatened, judged or exposed while feeding their babies in public, it may end up having one of two outcomes: they rather stay at home (which hampers the Continued on page 53 52 eSensitive Midwifery Magazine Issue 44