Siletz
Community
“Cha-may weeya ”
Medicine Talk
Barriers to Breastfeeding
Several attempts were made during the 1980s to identify and reduce the barriers
that keep women from beginning and continuing to breastfeed their babies. In
1990, the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health identified
the following barriers:
1) Education of our professionals - The lack of professional education regarding
breastfeeding continues to be a barrier. When professionals fail to provide
support, give poor advice, or lack knowledge about breastfeeding and lactation
management, or when knowledgeable skilled clinicians are inaccessible, the
barriers to initiating or continuing breastfeeding remain in place.
2) Public education - specifically, women’s attitudes and societal attitudes are
barriers to breastfeeding. Women’s attitudes about modesty, embarrassment,
loss of independence, lack of confidence, concerns that their milk supply is
inadequate, and problems with breastfeeding previous infants add to the
barriers to breastfeeding. These misconceptions are likely to result from a
lack of accurate information. Breastfeeding is not accepted as the norm and
the general lack of support by society adds to the barriers.
3) Support in the health care system - The United States National Breastfeeding
Committee was formed in January 1998. Its goal is to facilitate a national
breastfeeding policy. It is believed that until there is a national policy
supporting breastfeeding, there will never be consistent education for providers
and the public.
♦ The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC) has increased breastfeeding rates among it clients at a
higher rate than the general population. Unlike other health.organizations
that have added to the barriers, WIC has actively facilitated breastfeeding.
♦ Lack of postpartum services has been and continues to be a barrier to
breastfeeding. In Lincoln County, breastfeeding coordinators are available
at hospitals and home health nurses visit mothers and babies the first
week they’re at home to help with any breastfeeding problems that may
occur. The Siletz Tribe has two certified lactation counselors on staff.
4) Support services in the community - Surveys conducted by the Surgeon
General’s Office in the 1980s showed that factors influencing breastfeeding
rates include lack of support from family and friends, and lack of role models
who breastfeed. Most women of childbearing age were bom to mothers during
the 1960s and 1970s, when American culture strongly supported bottle
feeding. There’s a strong correlation that mothers who were breastfed are
more likely to breastfeed their own children. Lack of postpartum support also
has been a problem. As mentioned above, many postpartum breastfeeding
programs are available in Lincoln County.
5) Support in the work place - As shown in the Surgeon General’s national
survey, returning to work and school are the most frequent barriers to
breastfeeding. Lack of support, embarrassment, the stress of transition to
parenthood, and the lack of information about how to maintain a milk supply
while separated from the infant also contribute.
6) Research - Formula companies have done research on the ingredients of their
formulas, always trying to create a product that’s similar to human milk. But
it’s only been in the last 20 years that research regarding the effects of formulas
on infants, and later adults, as been done. It’s now clear that infants who are
breastfed are healthier children and adults.
The goal of the Siletz Tribal Breastfeeding Program is to respectfully educate
and encourage families to breastfeed. Watch for articles each month in Siletz News.
Health
Clinic
Moms and Babies Breastfeeding Circle
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians ol Oregon Breastfeeding Program
2nd Tuesday
of each
month
6 - 7:30 p.m.
Housing
Department
Conference
Room
Nurture your baby
Nurture yourself
—• Contact Laura Duarte or Barbara Danna. RN. al 541-444-1030 or 1-800-643-0449
You’re invited to come eat, visit, and learn
about the many benefits of breastfeeding.
Sponsored by Siletz Tribal Diabetes Grant
Clinic has Immunization for Cancer!
by Dr. Rick Morgan
What’s the only cancer that can be immunized against? What sexually
transmitted disease can be prevented by immunization? If you answered
hepatitis B, you answered both questions correctly.
Oregon has a high percent of residents who test positive for hepatitis
C. This type of hepatitis has a higher-than-normal risk for developing into
liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), especially if the patient also has
hepatitis B. These diseases are spread through any activity that may result in
blood or body fluid exposure - needle drug use, nasal snorting of drugs, sex,
or blood transfusions received before screening was done (1992).
The Siletz Clinic is trying to screen all hepatitis C patients and their families
for hep B and hep A, and immunize them to prevent dual infection. SCHC
also is screening for alpha fetoprotein (AFP), a blood protein that is increased
in patients with liver cancer. If someone you know has hepatitis C and hasn’t
had these tests, please contact the clinic for an appointment
If patients already have hepatitis C (formally called “non A non B
hepatitis”), several things can be done to lessen complications and improve
quality of life. Most important is to not drink alcohol or use other liver
damaging substances. Many treatment centers won’t offer treatment if the
patient is drinking or has consumed alcohol within the past six or 12 months.
Learn all you can about the liver and hepatitis. One good resource is the
Alaska Native Tribal Health Center’s Web site - www.ANTHC.org/hep - that
teaches patients and their families about treatment options, potential treatment
complications, and ways to cope with them.
The Siletz Clinic has a hepatitis C registry much like the diabetic registry
that we use to track patients’ care and offer new treatments as they become
available. If you or anyone you know has hepatitis, please have them contact
the clinic to be sure they are on our registry and have had all the tests and
available treatments.
Any questions raised by this article can be addressed to me, Dr. Rick
Morgan, at the Siletz Clinic, 541- 444-1030 or 1-800-648-0449.
February 2003 □
Siletz News
□
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