PAHO Urges Caribbean Mothers to Breastfeed Within First Hour of Birth

It is unfortunate that many mothers in developing countries in the Caribbean have moved from away from breastfeeding their babies and instead have adopted formula feeding which is popular in western countries. However as a group, breastfed infants have less difficulty with digestion than do formula-fed infants. Breast milk tends to be more easily digested so that breastfed babies have fewer bouts of diarrhea or constipation. Breast milk also naturally contains many of the vitamins and minerals that a newborn requires. Also, breastfed babies have an increased resistance to infections, and therefore fewer incidents of illness and hospitalisation. Occasionally there will be a baby who is allergic to breastmilk and needs to be formula-fed. But the main reason why Caribbean mothers are choosing not to breastfeed is probably due to the aggressive marketing campaigns by companies that make infant formulas who erroneously advertise their products as superior to breastmilk. Read More