More NMI women choosing not to breastfeed

The Department of Public Health’s Women, Infants, and Children Program reports that more and more Commonwealth mothers are choosing not to breastfeed their children.

According to WIC’s breastfeeding statistics, 675 infants from 0 to 12 months are fully formula fed, while 33 infants are partially breastfed. Only 70 infants are fully breastfed.

“It is a big community issue and more so now because many women don’t do it because of work, or because it’s more convenient [to bottle feed], or other physiological issues,” said Deputy Secretary Lynn Tenorio in an interview.

According to Tenorio, DPH conducted its own study on the effects of breastfeeding and “we were able to show that breastfeeding your children longer had a positive effect on reducing the risk of your child being overweight or obese.”

“Yes, there are a number of studies and research that say and prove that, but we were able to prove it here as well,” she said.

Tenorio said that in its study, DPH found that children in the CNMI who have healthier weights were breastfed as infants. “And we were able to prove that. That it works.”

In its efforts to promote breastfeeding in the CNMI, DPH Labor & Delivery does not provide bottles and infant formulas but instead encourage mothers to practice breastfeeding during their stay at the hospital.

Further, the CNMI WIC program has sent two WIC staff abroad to become breastfeeding consultants.

“Everybody needs to understand the health benefits of it and that it is the only natural way of feeding and the best way,” Tenorio said.

She added that DPH is currently working on creating a pumping room for breastfeeding mothers, should they need to pump or breastfeed their children privately.

“We want to establish an area that is clean and quiet for them. And we’re hoping that once we do it, everyone will too,” Tenorio said.

“It is so much easier [for mothers to feed their infants formula or to start them on solid foods before 12 months] although that’s more expensive. But it [breastfeeding] is something that needs to be culturally accepted again,” she adds.

The WIC program offers free breast pumps to mothers who choose to breastfeed their mothers, “but many women still choose not to do it because of work and convenience,” said Tenorio.

Medical studies say breastfeeding babies reduces their risk of getting overweight and sudden infant death syndrome, builds babies’ immune system, and better neurological development, among other benefits.