Uran-Erdene is a healthy and joyful
11-month year old girl. With her two little ponytails and chubby cheeks, she
bounces back and forth between her parents laps. She is the youngest of three
girls and, according to her mother Sarantugs, she is also the healthiest.
Sarantugs believes this is because she exclusively breastfed Uran-Erdene for
six months after birth.
Uran-Erdene's happy when breastfeeding @UNICEF Mongolia/2014/Ariunzaya Davaa |
By the time of her second child,
Sarantugs knew that breastfeeding was best for a baby’s health. But her
daughter was born with a cleft lip which prevented her from breastfeeding.
“However, after talking to my family doctor I decided to exclusively breastfeed
my youngest,” Sarantugs continues. “I am very glad that I did. You can really
see the difference. Uran-Erdene is much healthier than her sisters and rarely
gets sick.”
Sarantugs, 29, and her husband
Sukhgerel, 34, live with their three daughters in a house owned by Sukhgerel’s
brother in Nalaikh, one of nine districts of Ulaanbaatar. An hour’s drive away
from the city lights of central Ulaanbaatar across plain steppes, the
industrial district of Nalaikh is in practical terms a small town all to
itself. Sukhgerel works in IT but doesn’t have a regular income, and the family
sometimes struggles financially.
Daughters Namuun-Erdene, Uranbileg and Uran-Erdene @UNICEF Mongolia/2014/Andy Brown |
Medical support
While pregnant with Uran-Erdene,
Sarantugs had a pre-natal appointment with the family doctor, Dinara, who
advised her to exclusively breastfeed her child for six months and continue
breastfeeding with complimentary food until she is two years old.
Dinara explained the health benefits of
exclusive and continued breastfeeding, and the risks of artificial feeding. Artificially
fed babies are at greater risk of disease, including allergies, diabetes,
leukemia, respiratory infections, and sudden infant death syndrome. By
contrast, breastfed babies are at lower risk of all of these diseases, and also
have better brain development.
Dinara is one of 60 family doctors and
nurses in Nalaikh who have been trained on community-based infant and young
child feeding counselling as part of Mongolia’s national nutrition strategy. The
training was conducted by the Government with support from UNICEF. The doctors
and nurses advise pregnant women and new mothers like Sarantugs on the health
benefits of breastfeeding and the risks of breast milk substitute, countering
the misinformation they see in formula adverts on TV.
Declining trend
According
to a national survey conducted by UNICEF and the Government, breastfeeding
rates in Mongolia are decreasing.
Sarantugs is one of 47 percent of women in Mongolia who exclusively breastfed
their child for six month. Four years ago, this number was
60 per cent.
“Even
though current breastfeeding rates in Mongolia are higher than the global
average, we
are very concerned by the declining trend,” says
Munkhjargal, UNICEF Mongolia Nutrition Specialist. ”The
reasons for this decline vary from lack of support from family or workplaces to
growing poverty which forces mothers to go back to work soon after giving
birth.”
One
of the main reasons for declining breastfeeding rates is heavy advertisement of
breast milk substitutes. “The current law on marketing of breast milk
substitutes is too weak to control the market,” Munkhjargal continues. “The
Government has agreed to update the law, but we have yet to see significant
action on this. UNICEF Mongolia will be working closely with the Ministry of
Health to revise several articles in the current law.”
Another
factor that influenced Sarantugs to breastfeed her youngest child was
financial. Buying breast milk substitute for their first two daughters put the
family under a heavy financial burden. Living far from the city centre made it
hard to get baby food at local stores. They had to drive to the city frequently
as their small income did not allow them to buy products in bulk.
Uran-Erdene loves playing with her father @UNICEF Mongolia/2014/Andy Brown |
Now
that she is breastfeeding, the family has been able to buy quality food for
everyone, especially for the mother. “If I eat well, I can breast feed our
child. It is much more cost-effective to buy good food for ourselves than to
buy breast milk substitute” explains Sarantugs.
“Now that I know and see the benefits
of exclusive breastfeeding myself, I always recommend it my pregnant friends.
It is never too late. I started on my third child, and my girl is healthy and
happy” says Sarantugs, smiling at her daughter as she feeds happily.
The
author
Ariunzaya Davaa is Communication Specialist at UNICEF Mongolia
Ariunzaya Davaa is Communication Specialist at UNICEF Mongolia
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