North Macedonia's Kumanovo Hospital launches new breastfeeding support initiative

As Kumanovo hospital staff in North Macedonia mark World Breastfeeding Week, an annual global campaign held Aug. 1-7 to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, they urge new mothers to learn to breastfeed despite the initial challenges, highlighting the health benefits of breast milk for babies, MIA's Kumanovo correspondent reports.

As of September, the Kumanovo hospital will offer childbirth and breastfeeding education classes to expecting parents. To help pregnant women and postpartum mothers navigate nursing and infant nutrition, the hospital will also open a dedicated room where they will get childbirth, lactation and breastfeeding support, CE Report quotes MIA.

Breast milk is more than food

Neonatologist Aleksandra Hristova said that World Breastfeeding Week, coordinated by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action and backed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF since 1992, is a chance for the public to learn more about breastfeeding and its benefits.

"Breast milk has always been the gold standard in newborn nutrition," Hristova said. "It is a complex biological fluid rich in nutrients, bioactive molecules, immune cells, vitamins, minerals and beneficial bacteria that play a key role in newborn development and protection."

Apart from being a source of energy, breast milk actively shapes an infant's immune system and digestive tract, establishing a healthy gut microbiome, she said, citing research.

Maternal diet influences baby's health, too

According to Hristova, breast milk quality is directly linked to the nursing mother's diet, which is why the new childbirth and breastfeeding education classes will include nutritional advice.

"Not only is it important that the mother breastfeed but also that she eat healthy during her pregnancy and lactation," she said, recommending a balanced diet based on proteins and unprocessed carbohydrates, such as fresh fruit and vegetables.

"We are against the trend of nursing moms going on crash diets because maternal nutrition influences the newborn's microbiome," she said.

Hristova adds that with moderation and a varied diet, breastfeeding mothers can go back to their pre-baby weight without compromising their milk supply.

Breast milk contains natural antibodies, enzymes and oligosaccharides

Although the global baby formula industry keeps developing new products, their formulations cannot replicate breast milk.

"Formula provides nutrients, but it cannot replace the living cells, the immune cells and bioactive components found in breast milk," the neonatologist said.

"Breast milk has antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties and is of exceptional importance for the newborn's immune system," she said.

Hristova also pointed out the importance of colostrum, the first milk produced by mothers right after giving birth, which features high levels of antibodies and essential nutrients.

"Colostrum is rich in proteins and protective immune factors, which is why we often claim it is the newborn's 'first vaccine,'" she said.

Colostrum, produced from mid-pregnancy to the first few days postpartum, is followed by transitional milk, produced from days 2 to 5 up to two weeks postpartum. Mature milk, produced from two weeks postpartum onward, continuously adapts to meet a baby's changing needs, she said.

The neonatologist recommends mothers exclusively breastfeed their babies for at least the first six months of life.

No need of water or tea for breastfed babies

According to WHO recommendations, exclusively breastfed infants have no need of any additional foods or liquids, not even water.

"Around 87% of breast milk is water, which is why babies should not be given any teas, water or any other drinks. It fully meets their needs for liquids," Hristova said.

She said breast milk contains the perfect ratio of proteins and enzymes as well as biologically active components that help develop a baby's immune system and provide protection from infections.

New findings presented in Japan and the Netherlands

Hristova has recently paid working visits to Japan and the Netherlands, where she learned about best practices and attended presentations on the latest research on breast milk.

In Japan, she said, the rate of early breastfeeding is high, which is a practice also followed by the Kumanovo hospital's labor and delivery unit, where as many newborns as possible are placed directly on their mothers' chests for skin-to-skin contact and their first feeding.

In the Netherlands, she found out more about human milk oligosaccharides.

"Researchers have identified around 200 of the presumed 1,000 genes linked to the synthesis of oligosaccharides. They feed beneficial bacteria in the infant's gut," Hristova said, adding that a healthy intestinal environment protects the baby from infections.

New room for supporting pregnant women and nursing moms

The Kumanovo hospital's labor and delivery unit head nurse Albina Memeti said the new room dedicated to supporting pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers will open on Sept. 1.

There, she said, trained nurses will give classes on childbirth as well as infant care and breastfeeding.

"Future mothers are already showing interest, and the class schedule will be published in the media and posted on social networks," Memeti said, urging pregnant women to sign up.

Nursing moms need support from trained nurses

The hospital's NICU nurse Sandra Canevska Trajkovska said breastfeeding success greatly depends on receiving the right kind of support immediately after delivery.

"The labor and delivery nurse is the one to place the newborn on the mother's chest and show the mother how to breastfeed," Canevska Trajkovska said.

She said new mothers are given further breastfeeding tips and pumping advice at the maternity unit.

According to the Kumanovo labor and delivery unit's statistics, 80.3% of newborns are placed skin-to-skin on the mother's chest to nurse in the first 30 minutes after birth.

By the time they leave the hospital, 60.2% of new mothers breastfeed.

According to the hospital staff, mothers should keep trying to nurse their babies despite the early difficulties.

"Through persistence and with breastfeeding support, most problems can be overcome and the benefits for the newborn are priceless," they told MIA's correspondent.

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