In those early hours, a simple yet powerful connection begins: breastfeeding. This natural act goes far beyond just nourishment, shaping your baby’s health and wellbeing in ways you might not expect.
Despite the rise of technological advances in infant care, the case for breastfeeding remains as compelling as ever.
In conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2024 from Aug 1-7, Monash University Malaysia hosted a seminar to highlight this crucial conversation.
Themed “Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All”, this year’s WBW emphasised the importance of creating inclusive, supportive environments for mothers.
Three passionate advocates took the stage, sharing their personal journeys, professional insights, and the underestimated role breastfeeding plays in securing the health of future generations.
Gina Yong, the founder of The Breastfeeding Advocates Network (TBAN), spent over two decades helping Malaysian mothers overcome the societal and systemic hurdles surrounding breastfeeding.
What started as a personal struggle turned into a full-time mission for Yong, who now manages a Facebook group with over 150,000 members, offering support and advice to mothers across the country.
“If you want to see a Malaysia with healthy children, it starts with breastfeeding,” Yong stated.
She began her talk by addressing the elephant in the room: the stigma surrounding breastfeeding.
“I was at a clinic nursing my newborn and people were looking at me in horror,” she recalled. “Someone actually asked, ‘Don’t you want to cover up?’”
This, according to Gina, is a common experience for many breastfeeding mothers, despite Malaysia’s reported breastfeeding rate of around 75% in 2023. “If this were true, every floor of every mall should have at least five breastfeeding rooms,” she pointed out.
The stigma is not only societal but institutional. Yong recounted her first unsettling experience with a doctor after the birth of her child. “The doctor told me my three-month-old was too old to still be breastfeeding, then handed me a can of formula milk.”
She walked out of that clinic 22 years ago, frustrated. But it did spark her mission to become a breastfeeding advocate, and to help other mothers avoid such discouraging encounters.
Dr Gin Lim, a dentist and certified breastfeeding counsellor, shared her expertise on how breastfeeding plays a critical role in not only nutrition but also craniofacial development.
“Breastfeeding, unlike bottle feeding, strengthens the baby’s tongue muscles and promotes jaw development,” she explained.
According to Lim, bottle-feeding relies primarily on sucking motions controlled by the cheeks, which can lead to underdeveloped facial muscles, which in turn affect the airway, potentially causing issues that persist into adulthood.
She pointed out that studies show children who are breastfed tend to enjoy better sleep quality and are less prone to problems like snoring, sleep apnea, and frequent colds later in life.
Lim also said that there are numerous reasons why bottle feeding can never fully compare to breastfeeding.
“Direct latching is crucial. A baby’s saliva actually sends messages to the mother’s immune system, prompting the production of ‘medicated’ milk tailored to the baby’s specific needs. Bottle-feeding, even with pumped breast milk, doesn’t offer this benefit,” she explained.
She also noted an interesting detail: “You may actually see a change in the colour of a mother’s breast milk when the baby is sick.”
After leaving a successful banking career, Daphne Lee-Yang dedicated herself to supporting new families as both a certified breastfeeding counsellor and hypnobirthing practitioner at Purple Seeds.
“Choices in birth affect breastfeeding. It’s a chain reaction,” Lee-Yang explained. “Babies are less likely to nurse if the mother has used narcotics during birth because the baby tends to be sleepier.”
Lee-Yang’s advice to expecting parents? Plan ahead.
“I highly encourage couples to write a birth plan before the baby arrives,” she said, noting that a well-thought-out plan increases the chances of breastfeeding success.
“Fifty years ago, we didn’t hear about breastfeeding consultants because mothers and grandmothers were the ones who passed down this knowledge. But with more families moving to urban areas, that support is no longer as readily available,” she explained.
This is why, she emphasised, the conversation around breastfeeding education must never stop – because a healthy start shapes a lifetime.
Visit TBAN on their website or follow them on Facebook. Also follow Purple Seeds on Facebook.