Breastfeeding in Malaysia

Providing Support to Breastfeeding working mothers :    A Malaysian Perspective

It has been statistically proven that approximately 32.2% of babies born in Malaysia are breastfeed exclusively for 6 months. The number is significantly low, thus it is concerning as it will affect the post-natal care of the babies as well as the mother’s health. Most mothers have expressed their concern of time constraint due to hectic working time as well as fewer knowledge about the importance of breastfeeding.

The Malaysian Medical Gazette website stated that working mothers have a lot of obstacles to face daily, thus indirectly interfere their intention to breastfeed their babies. The mothers stated that they did not receive any support from their workplace. Some of their bosses did not give extra maternity leave but instead they have to work overtime. In addition, there is no suitable place for the mothers to breastfeed their baby or to do Expressed Breast Milk (EBM). Some mothers have experienced psychological issues as they were accused by their colleagues trying to escape from doing any job and also being labelled as incompetent and unprofessional. It is quite stressful for working mothers to bare the hurtful comments.

In other cases, some nulliparous mothers are not aware of the importance of breastfeed as well as not provided proper guidance from their family or relatives. Some people believe that formula-milk would be enough for the babies and breastfeeding would be troublesome and some mothers are not taught how to do EBM and the ways to store them. Also, working mothers might have difficulties to produce milk as they eat less than they should and they do not breastfeed their babies consistently.

Pregnant mothers should be exposed to the benefits of breastfeeding as this will encourage them to do so. Both mother and baby will gain the advantages of breastfeeding. It is known that breast milk contains numerous nutrients such as colostrum which can help improves the baby’s immune system. Other components of breast milk are vitamin C and vitamin E, the anti-oxidants that can prevent any oxidative damages to the baby’s body tissue. In addition, breastfeeding may lower the risk of multiple diseases such as cancer and infection later in future life. The least ideal period for breastfeeding is six months but the most ideal is two years. This might also foster the relationship between mother and baby due to the sense of touch and stimulation felt by the baby during breastfeeding. In addition, mothers also can avoid the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer as well as shrinking the uterus into its original shape as the effects of breastfeeding their child. Breastfeeding can also help mothers lose weight as approximately 500 calories are burn during breastfeeding.

Research had been done and it has been scientifically proven that breast milk is the best compared to artificial milk as breast milk has sufficient nutrients for babies. However, to those mothers who are not able to breastfeed, they have formula milk as another alternative. However, they should be aware of the nutrients needed by infants. The main components of breast milk are whey and casein proteins, therefore, formula milk must contain high amount of whey as it is digestible by newborn. However, it is still not enough as formula milk does not have immunoglobin-A (IgA) that provides strong immune system.

Other than that, before deciding to breastfeed infants, pregnant mothers should gain the knowledge of nutritional properties of breast milk and formula milk as well as the nutrients required by newborn by attending classes. Hospitals or any healthcare centres should provide enough guidance for future mothers. Pregnant mothers can also seek help from any non-government association such as The Malaysian Breastfeeding Peer Counselor (MBfPC) for extra support regarding post-natal care. The Malaysian hospitals also had created a Baby-Friendly Hospital which had banned formula-milk at early stage of life. Future mothers should be aware of this matter and should be mentally prepared to breastfeed their babies. In this modern times, pregnant mothers are advised to create a support group via Whatsapp or Telegram to seek useful advice from workmates and relatives as well as informing their current health situation to avoid any conflicts in the future. Also, employers should help preserving the rights for working mothers by introducing new policies in the work place and reduce their workload.  

After all, pregnant mothers are the one who have the authority to decide whether or not to breastfeed their babies. Most of them are aware of the importance of breastfeeding and choose to do so. Besides, it is free!