Breast milk: why it is irreplaceable

In Bujumbura, the price of artificial milk for infants is going through the roof, leaving mothers with very few alternatives. But why artificial milk when you can breastfeed? -By Joanna Nganda

A mother breastfeeding her child

Elsie, a mother of two, chose exclusive breastfeeding and as she says it herself “it’s the cheapest and safest way to feed your child.” Unfortunately, along the benefits of breastfeeding came the other side of the coin “in addition to stretch marks, I lost my bust. It’s completely deflated, it looks like a pair of old socks! But I don’t regret breastfeeding my sons, they deserve the best and that’s what breasts are for: to feed your baby, not to look pretty. Breastfeeding is natural.” However, most women in Bujumbura do not feel the same way about breastfeeding despite WHO’s recommendations to exclusively breastfeed infants up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary food up to 2 years of age or beyond. “I am a very busy mother” declares Jeanine, a pharmacy manager “I leave home at 6 a.m. and come back very late at night; the only alternative for me is artificial milk. I can’t possibly go home every 2 or 3 hours to feed my baby, I’d lose my job!”
For Ornella, a young and stylish single mother, the reasons are simply aesthetic “I don’t want to get saggy breasts just yet, I am still young. My sister has 2 kids and her breast is a sorry sight, that’s why I have chosen artificial milk. My baby is healthy and I don’t regret my choice.” Ornella goes on saying that if the prices continue to climb, she will start using regular box cow milk instead. But how safe is cow milk for an infant? Is milk destined to feed a 300kg calf appropriate for a 3.5kg baby?

“Cow’s milk is appropriate for a calf, not an infant”

According to Doctor Amelie Nijimbere, pediatrician, cow’s milk is nowhere close to safe when given to an infant under 6 months “cow’s milk is appropriate for a calf, not an infant. Its purpose is to develop the calf’s weight and height, but unlike breast milk, it doesn’t have enough lactose to allow the infant’s brain to develop well and quickly. In fact, if you put two babies in a situation, the one who is breastfed reacts faster and in a smarter way than the one whose diet is cow’s milk” declares Dr. Nijimbere. Cow’s milk is not adapted for an infant and might cause diseases that could have been avoided by breastfeeding. These diseases range from mild to serious “digestive discomfort and illness such as diarrhea can easily lead to malnutrition; you understand that there’s not enough time for the food to be absorbed by the baby’s intestines. This leads to serious cases of kwashiorkor. Besides digestive problems, the infant can also show signs of eczema and the skin becomes rough and callous”, explains Dr. Nijimbere,”cow’s milk is deprived of antibodies, a situation which exposes the infant to a lot of health problems among which respiratory issues where the baby has a very specific kind of cough, and even asthma in the worst cases,” Dr. Amelie Nijimbere says. She also adds that cow’s milk molecules are heavier than breast’s milk and they leave lesions in the intestines that will cause irritation and fragility. Due to the heavy molecules, the infant’s immature kidneys suffer greatly because they have to filter molecules that are too heavy for them. This can sometimes cause kidney failure. Dr. Amelie Nijimbere urges mothers to always choose breastfeeding “artificial milk will never be as good as breast milk, no matter how hard laboratories will try to make cow’s milk resemble breast milk. A good alternative to breastfeeding is to pump and store the milk in the fridge for later use. This way, busy mothers can leave some milk at home and the nanny will feed the baby. Storing breast milk is an easy solution, and it is very well-preserved up to 5 days in the fridge.”