Healthy Children - Strengthening Promotion and Prevention across Australia - Article Example

Report on article Healthy Children - Strengthening Promotion and Prevention across Australia Introduction According to Ricci and Kyle (2008), adequate nutrition is essential for growth and development of the newborn. While Breastfeeding and bottle feeding of infant formula might both be acceptable means for nutrition in the newborn and the infant, one could never dilute the importance of breastfeeding and breast-milk as the innate process required for the nutrition provision of the new-born. The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) recommends breastfeeding as the natural and preferred method of newborn and infant feeding. In their position on breastfeeding (2001), NAPNAP identifies “human milk as being superior to all substitute feeding methods”, given, especially the fact that breast milk provides complete infant nutrition. Abstract Studies like (Van Esterik, 2002) have demonstrated the fact that there is a high incidence of malnutrition and mortality where infants and new born babies are concerned even in developed countries like Australia, although a bit of this number finds restriction to the aboriginal community. This would then mean that there is a need to identify and accept the fact that these high rates of malnutrition could be found to be caused primarily because of the poor infant feeding practices. However, most infant feeding research is not done by sociologists but by researchers in the areas of health education, international nutrition, clinical nursing, or public health; fields that have had the most influence on policy (Van Esterik, 2002). The following discussion shall aim to outline the importance of socio-cultural factors where breastfeeding decisions of the mother is concerned, highlighting the problems that occur in an average breastfeeding mother and finally try and provide recommendations for improvement in breastfeeding practices thereby improving levels of nutrition in new born babies. Importance of breastfeeding According to Edelstein and Sharlin (2009), it is important to educate new mothers, their partners, family members and healthcare professionals toward the nuances of breastfeeding. Within the medical system all medical providers, including obstriticians, pediatricians and nurses, need more education on the physiology of lactation and the mechanics of breast feeding patients. Providers even tend to unintentionally sabotage a mother’s efforts to exclusively breastfeed by recommending supplementation with formula when he or she fails to recognize that breast-fed infants gain weight differently from formula-fed infants rather than referring her to a qualified lactation consultant. Promotion of partnerships: Impact on family Donath and Amir, (2003) hypothesized that when the method a mother chooses to fee her baby can be viewed as a life-style decision, it can be determined by the mother’s and other family member’s attitude and beliefs about breast feeding as well as healthcare professional’s views, employment, stress levels and amount of social support. In fact a research by Arora, McJunkin, Wehrer and Kuhn, (2000), showed that a mother’s perception of the father’s attitudes or preferences on how the baby should be fed is one the top determinants of the mother’s decision to initiate bottle feeding over breast feeding. Studies have in fact also reported that the maternal grandmother’s attitude also tends to influence the type of feeding method used by the mother and positively correlates with longer duration of breast-feeding if she supports her daughter’s decision to breastfeed (Donath et. Al., 2003). The perceived influence of other people’s viewers including the views of the mother’s partners, other family members and healthcare providers is an important predictor of infant feeding behavior. Therefore promoting breastfeeding a positive norm and as the ideal method to feed an instant within a mother’s broader social context increases initiation and continuation of breast feeding. Issue defined and problem identified It has been said many times earlier and many much think of it as being over-hyped and not worth all the attention, demonstrating only the ignorance prevalent in our society with respect to the importance of breastmilk in the growth of infant and the value of breastfeeding as a process. The concept is debatable given especially the fact that breastmilk, is, after all, just milk. One would however need to however, understand the basic fact that even after six months, it still contains protein, fat, and other nutritionally important and appropriate elements which babies and children need. Breastmilk still contains immunologic factors that help protect the baby. In fact, some immune factors in breastmilk that protect the baby against infection are present in greater amounts in the second year of life than in the first. This is, of course as it should be, since children are generally more susceptible to infection. Breastmilk still contains factors that help the immune system to mature, and which help the brain, gut, and other organs to develop and mature. In a country like Australia, according to Gracey (2007), there is a perpetual problem with nutrition levels especially in infants. The researcher states that under nutrition is widespread in Australian Aboriginal infants and might be associated with high rates of infections, particularly of the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Maternal ill health and under nutrition seem to be neglected factors which contribute to the high incidence of low birth weight in Aboriginal babies and to their poor growth in the first five years of life. More effective preventive programmes are needed to help overcome these problems. There is also literature that proves that children that are in daycare that are breastfeeding even after the stipulated six monthly period tend to suffer from fewer infections with a lot less severity as compared with infants that are not breastfeeding. The mother thus loses less work time if she continues nursing her baby once she is back at her paid work. One has to remember the fact that most breastfeeding mothers may not have established adequate breastfeeding prior to leaving the hospital after birth of the newborn; the pediatric nurse might encounter an infant-mother dyad experiencing difficulty with breastfeeding for a variety of reasons. Thus the pediatric nurse must be competent in counseling the breastfeeding mother. The breastfeeding infant does not need supplementation with water or formula even in the first few days of life as long as the infant continues to wet more than 6 diapers in a day. Adequate urine output and bowel movements as well as continued weight gain in the infant, indicate the adequacy of breastfeeding. Working mothers in particular might need additional support from the nurse in order to continue breastfeeding if they desire to do so. Jones and King (2005) state that it is widely acknowledged that mothers might end up experiencing both psychological and emotional challenges that might adversely affect breastfeeding rates, especially in the case of infants that are preterm, having low birth-weight. Studies however have also shown that while there are difficulties that mothers encounter difficulties in sustaining milk production, they tend to indicate that lactation could be prolonged if mothers are given encouragement and support. Recommendations for change The problem here arises because of the fact that breastfeeding mothers have found that breastfeeding facilities and support in many units tend to be far below acceptable standards (Jones and King, 2005). Reasons slated by mothers trend to encompass numerous explanations, including poor provision of milk expression equipment, lack of privacy, lactation failure, conflicting advice and rigid feeding routines. Supporting mothers is adequately time consuming and requires specialist knowledge and expertise. Whilst information is given regarding lactation during training periods of training in nursing and midwifery, considerably less is usually given in programmes undertaken by pediatric students. This is a situation that would be needing redressal. It is also imperative that nurses and nursing staff receive in-service training regarding the management of breastfeeding activities and that equipment and private facilities are available for both expression and preterm feeding. Despite the fact that breastfeeding rates relatively high in Australia, and the support and encouragement of breastfeeding have been included in the Dietary Guidelines for Australia since 1981, there are still difficulties in providing mothers with appropriate and consistent breastfeeding and milk expression advice. According to Kyle and Kyle (2007), in order to aid the promotion of breastfeeding and thereby in the process of aiding nutrition in infants, one would encounter a few problems, such as sore nipples, engorgement, poor sucking, inadequate milk supply and mother tending to worry about the adequacy of breast milk. Where the problem of sore nipples is concerned, the duty of the nurse would be to encourage appropriate latch from the beginning, exposing nipples to air between feedings and allowing breast milk to dry on the nipples. In case the mother tends to suffer from engorgement of nipples, one would have to apply warm compress or encourage the mother to take a warm shower prior to having the baby latch on. Warmth encourages some of the milk to be released. Also, the nurse would need to encourage feeding on cue, and not on schedule. Also the sleepy infant could be encouraged by stroking the feet, undressing and rubbing the head. The nurse would also do well to encourage the father to participate in other aspects of care. Conclusion In conclusion therefore it might be stated that while the problem of breastfeeding and it aiding nutrition is one usually identified with that of developing communities, countries like Australia are not immune to it either; with factors such as family pressures and lack of awareness of related issues forming contributing factors to further complicating the problem. The solution would be an increasing awareness within the ranks of nursing professionals about the presence of the problem and the few basic aides that would help get rid of it. References: G. M., (2007). ‘Maternal Health, Breast-Feeding and Infant Nutrition in Australian Aborigines’. Pediatrics International. 31(4). p4 Kyle, S. S., and Ricci, T., (2008). Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp789-790 Kyle, T., and Kyle, T., (2007). Essentials of pediatric nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp91-95 Donath, S. M., and Amir, L. H., (2003). Relationship between prenatal infant. ALSPAC Study Team. 92(3). pp352-355 Arora, S., McJunkin, C., Wehrer, J., & Kuhn, P. (2000). Major factors influencing breastfeeding rates. Mother’s perception of father’s attitudes and milk supply. Pediatrics. 106(5). Retrieved September 25, 2010, http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/106/5/e67 Edelstein and Sharlin. (2009). Life cycle nutrition: an evidence-based approach. Elsevier Publications. p70 Van Esterik, P. (2002). Contemporary trends in infant feeding research. Annual Rev. Anthropology 3(1) 257-278. Healthy Children – Strengthening Promotion and Prevention Across Australia. (2008). National Public Health Strategic Framework for Children 2005–2008 Read More