Special Report: Few women breastfeed despite proven benefits

There are many proven benefits for breastfed babies. Yet, in the El Paso, only 13% of mothers are still breastfeeding when their babies are 6-months old, according to the Centers for Disease Control, despite mounting advice from doctors to continue far beyond that.

“It’s incredible to know this food is custom made for him, for his body and for his needs. we’re still sort of a unit even though he’s living in this world now.we’re still connected physiologically,” said mother Rubi Orozco Santos in a recent interview while she held her ten-month old baby Roberto. Orozco Santos has been exclusively breastfeeding Roberto since birth. “Even the best food scientists aren’t able yet to replicate all the amazing benefits of breastfeeding,” she said.

While it’s amazing now, Orozco Santos said the beginning was incredibly difficult. “I didn’t know what i was doing. I’ve never used my body to feed someone before. Dealing with the pain and no sleeping and everything else that comes with the postpartum period. I remember crying when I would hear him start to get hungry again, like I’m not ready I’m still in pain. I need a break..”

It takes time for mother and baby to get in tune. Baby has to latch correctly and milk buildup can leave some mothers in pain for weeks before they find a good rhythm. Breastfeeding comes with social challenges, too.

“We are ambivalent about breasts in the United States. We see them in Carls Jr. commercials, we see them in beer commercials, the underwear that we buy is to enhance breasts but not for breastfeeding. Breasts are organs. Your liver filters blood, your kidney filters urine and your heart pumps blood and your breasts make milk. They’re body organs with a function but we don’t see them that way,” said Libby Berkeley, a Certified Lactation Consultant who teaches at Texas Tech El Paso.

Berkeley also runs the Baby Cafe, a place where women can go for breastfeeding help or as Berkeley puts it, to “feel normal.” “People are harassed after a year. They’re told “ugh are you still breastfeeding that child. Well the baby doesn’t know it was on year to him it’s just food.”

The World Health Organization recommends babies be breastfed for at least two years and beyond. The american academy of pediatrics recommends at least one year. “it (breastmilk) builds their immune system. One of those factors in human milk that’s not replicated is the essential fatty acids that grow the brain. And so breastfed babies are smarter,” said Berkeley. Smarter and healthier: research shows breast milk builds up babies’ immune system, curbs allergies, asthma, obesity, even some cancers. For mothers, breastfeeding reduces the risk of certain reproductive cancers like breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

A big reason so few women breastfeed: work. Breast pumps allow working moms to stay on their body’s schedule and save milk for when baby’s in someone else’s care. The Affordable Care Act now requires employers with more than 50 employees to provide a private space and break time for breastfeeding moms to pump. Employers, however, don’t have to provide extra break time to breastfeeding mothers.

So many working moms like teachers, doctors and nurses just don’t have time.

“I’ll try not to pressure myself with a deadline and just let nature guide us,” said Orozco Santos. “It’s amazing. it’s like living a miracle everyday.”

Orozco Santos has a blog about healthful eating and ancestral traditions. To read it, click here: tradicionessanas.com