Breastfeeding: An Unbreakable Bond Between Mother and Child
With the support of the European Union and UNICEF, health workers in Lao PDR are receiving training on breastfeeding counselling so they can support new mothers and promote breastfeeding.
Manivanh Kamtaseng, 24, has just become a mother the day before when she gave birth to her daughter, Poupe, at the Paksong district hospital in Lao PDR’s southern province of Champasak.
As a new mother, this was one of the most exhilarating experiences in Manivanh’s life and she aims to give her all to ensure little Poupe can grow up strong and healthy. To do so, Manivanh knows that breastfeeding is key since breast milk is the most complete food for babies that provides them with the ideal amount of essential nutrients. But more than that, breastfeeding is also the foundation upon which the unbreakable bond between a mother and her child is built.
However, to her frustration, Manivanh finds that no milk is coming out of her breast at all when she tries to breastfeed Poupe.
Worried that her daughter is not receiving enough nutrients and frustrated with her own apparent lack of breastmilk, Manivanh is beginning to contemplate whether or not to start feeding infant formula to Poupe instead.
On the same cool February day, a group of health workers from Vientiane Capital arrive in Paksong district hospital. Among them is Mone Keoduangdee, a midwife from the 5 Maysa Hospital in the country’s capital.
She alongside her team comprising of other trained midwives and nurses as well as Ministry of Health and UNICEF staff are at the hospital to monitor any violations of the Breastmilk Substitute Decree. Under the decree, hospitals in Lao PDR are to be free of any breastmilk substitute products, like infant formula, within their premises to help promote breastfeeding.
As the team walked around the hospital, Mone spots a young mother struggling to breastfeed her child. As a graduate of a breastfeeding accreditation course provided by the Centre of Nutrition, Mone has received specialised training on providing counselling to new mothers on the best way to breastfeed their babies. Since staff at the district hospital are yet to receive similar trainings, Mone knew she had to step up to help this young mother.
Thus, Manivanh and Mone’s paths converged.
Mone demonstrated to Manivanh how to properly hold her baby when breastfeeding to help the baby latch on to the breast and stimulate breastmilk production. With patience and perseverance from Mone, eventually milk started coming out of Manivanh’s breast.
It was a moment of pure joy for Manivanh but also a moment of empowerment for Mone – empowered to help new mothers and pass on her knowledge to other health workers like herself, so they can continue to make an impact in the lives of mothers and children like she had with Manivanh and Poupe. Indeed, since graduating from the breastfeeding accreditation course, Mone has further trained some of her peers on providing breastfeeding counselling and they too have started providing support to new mothers on breastfeeding, bringing on a cascade of change.
“I am determined to continue passing on these skills to my colleagues and continue supporting many more mothers to successfully breastfeed their child."
With the support of the European Union and UNICEF, a three-month breastfeeding accreditation course is being provided by the Centre of Nutrition, Ministry of Health, in Lao PDR. The course aims to equip nurses and midwives like Mone with the skills to support new mothers to breastfeed optimally.
As of February 2024, there are a total of 65 graduates from the course and provincial hospitals in all 18 provinces of Lao PDR now have breastfeeding advisors to support breastfeeding mothers.
