(Press Release) Almost Half of Indonesian Mothers Face Difficulties When Breastfeeding: Survey
In a recent readers survey on Smartmama.com, 46% of mothers faced challenges during breastfeeding of their newborn child. While 9 in 10 mothers say that they were able to exclusively breastfeed their baby for the first six months from birth, the remaining were not able to do so due to other reasons: difficulties with the baby latching on, low milk supply, or other personal medical reasons.
Dr. Margareta Komalasari, Sp.A
“One of the major challenges to mothers who can’t breastfeed is the lack of information in lactation management,” says Dr. Margareta Komalasari. “It’s better for mothers to take an active step to talk to their doctors or lactation counselors and try to address the issue,” she suggested.
The success of breastfeeding also hinges of the mental health of the mother. Psychologist Ms Liza Marielly Djaprie says, “You can’t be in a stressful state of mind if you want to successfully breastfeed. It should come naturally and your family members should be supportive figures, not just for the mother and but for the child as well.”
Andhika Akbar – Ayah ASI Indonesia
Fathers also play a crucial role. Andhika Akbar from Ayah ASI, an organization whose main aim is to educate new dads to be more involved in everyday breastfeeding, shares, “there are a lot of things we can do as a dad to support our wife. I learnt how to change diapers and stay awake to accompany her while she’s breastfeeding in the middle of the night.”
Actress Sabai Morschek, a mother of 4 month-old child Bjorka, also cites her husband playing an important role for her. “In the beginning, there were general problems such as my baby wouldn’t latch on and painful nipple wounds. But luckily for me, my husband (Ringgo Agus Rahman, entertainer) is my biggest supporter. He always brings a huge smile to my face and he is a big reason why I can breastfeed Bjorka till now,” she shared.
As a result of the readers survey and also as part of World Breastfeeding Week (1 Aug to 7 Aug), Smart Mama launches #SmartAsi: a breastfeeding campaign whose main aim is push for a more inclusive & supportive conversation around breastfeeding in Indonesia.
Sharing Moment #SmartASI Breastfeeding Story (26/7/2016)
“We are doing a breastfeeding campaign as we believe that support for each other is the key to successful breastfeeding. It may be natural process for some, but it does not mean that it is an easy process for others. More importantly, breastfeeding is not a competition between mothers. Breastfeeding is about sharing the love that we have for our babies,” Karmenita Ridwan, features editor of Smart Mama.
#SmartASI is proud to be supported by CAMPAIGN and Ogilvy Public Relations -Jakarta.
The public can support the #SmartASI campaign by sharing their personal breastfeeding story at www.campaign.com/SmartAsi
-END-
Contact Person:
Karmenita Ridwan, Feature Editor of Smart Mama
0878-8255-2114
For More Content: http://smartmama.com/tag/smartasi
Youtube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLggpSsQ3jXzYpWfEOjEiM3yOr1pBceumZ
- Website: smartmama.com
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thesmartmamas
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/thesmartmamas
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thesmartmamas/
- Snapchat: thesmartmamas
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDqdwuZuDjY0m8lrpS6Rtyw
Photos to be captioned:
- Margareta Komalasari shares about the advantages of breastfeeding in the early days of childbirth.
- Andhika Akbar from Ayah ASI shares about the crucial role that dads play in the overall success of breastfeeding.
- #SmartAsi: Event by SmartMama where breastfeeding mothers & fathers sit down and share their important stories to support one another.
