The Might of Mother's Milk (MoMM)!

Greetings, dear young parents!
This year, we have a lot of data from the world renowned medical journal Lancet , which I am sharing here today. If we could achieve:
i) 100% early initiation of breastfeeding in the first hour and
ii) 100% exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months
iii) Good home cooked food to complement breastfeeding from six months of age to two years of
age;
then these would be the effects seen in India:

• we could reduce1,56000 child deaths every year
• prevent 3,436,560 episodes of pneumonia
• prevent 3,900,000 episodes of diarrhea
• increase average IQ level by 3 points across all income groups.  India can add 0.6285 billion USD (approx. INR 4300 crore) annually to its gross national income, through the improved IQ. (Studies show that breastfeeding translates to better IQ, which in turn translates to better earnings in later life.)  
• Breastfeeding has the potential to reduce type -II diabetes by 35%
• Breastfeeding can reduce obesity by 26% in the 5-17 age group
• Environmental impact : Breastfeeding is a zero-emission, zero-waste process. In India, the sale of milk formulas leads to the emission of 111,226 tonnes of green house gases. (In China, this is 2,249,287 tonnes.)
• It can prevent 4915 deaths due to breast cancer (in the mother) out of a total of 70,000. (Globally, breastfeeding can prevent 20,000 deaths from breast cancer per year)

I congratulate the Government of India for:

i) starting the program MAA for the early initiation of breastfeeding and

ii) approving 26 weeks of maternity leave (by Rajya Sabha) for all working mothers, including the private sector (but not the unorganized sector yet).

SAY YES TO BREASTFEEDING! SAY NO TO FORMULA AND BOTTLES!

All About Infant Formulas

Myth: In case lactation fails, infant formulas of different makes for different age groups are the best alternatives.

Fact: Lactation nearly never fails. Breastfeeding, however, may fail, if the infant is not initiated to suckling properly. Mammary glands are modified eccerine glands, similar to tear glands and sweat glands. Breast milk is secreted only if the infant suckles properly. The more the 'emptying' in the previous feeding, the more the refilling. Breast milk also changes in composition if the baby is born prematurely, to fulfill the needs of the premature baby. Good lactation counselors are able to re-initiate breastfeeding even after gaps due to illness of the mother or other such reasons.

Let us proceed to see as to what are the ingredients of infant formulas. Most of the parents that I have met during my 35 years of practice seem to believe that these formulas are "special". The fact is, that all of them are processed from cows' and buffaloes' milk. The first step is to separate cream/fats and sell it separately at a high price. The remaining milk is called 'skimmed milk', which for many rich milk producing countries is a by-product. This milk is spray-dried and made into skimmed milk powder (SMP), which is very cheap. My research showed that all different formulas have SMP as a base ingredient. Now, inexpensive vegetable oils (some of them suspected to be from GM seeds) are mixed with the SMP base. Many of them have maltodextrins and some micronutrients . When we taught nutrition in our M.D., these additive ingredients were not mentioned anywhere. They are propagated only by the formula industry and are not proven to have any beneficial effects.
Many young parents simply believe the formulas to be beneficial simply because of the name of the multinational attached without ever having read the ingredient label!
Recommendations: The IYCF program in India recommends the following priority order for neonates and infants:
1. Own mother's milk
2. Other mother's milk (Human Milk Bank/Wet Nurse)
3. Fresh boiled bovine milk
For complimentary feeding after six months of age, home cooked multi ingredient food should be used as it is far more nutritionally superior to packaged cereals.

For reference of ingredients of some popular infant formulae, please visit the links here:
https://www.amazon.in/Nestl%C3%A9-Starter-Infant-Formula-Probiotics/dp/B00I4SZJUG

https://www.amazon.in/Nestle-Nan-Pro-Infant-Formula/dp/B00HQFRQRC

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbrucebradley.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F11%2FFormulaGerber.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbrucebradley.com%2Ffood%2Fbabys-first-encounter-with-big-food%2F&docid=gfTeXXED-KXXDM&tbnid=sA2Q2DhZbMN1TM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiXn9fRzbfmAhXi7HMBHRbMCMQQMwhsKAEwAQ..i&w=1024&h=768&bih=625&biw=1280&q=infant%20food%20ingredients&ved=0ahUKEwiXn9fRzbfmAhXi7HMBHRbMCMQQMwhsKAEwAQ&iact=mrc&uact=8

https://www.arlafoodsingredients.com/industries/early-life-nutrition/early-life-nutrition-ingredients/ingredients--concepts/infant-nutrition/

For further information on breastfeeding and complementary feeding, please visit: http://www.bpni.org/

For risks involved with formula feeding and bottle feeding, please visit: http://www.infactcanada.ca/RisksofFormulaFeeding.pdf

Please do not buy into the marketing tactics and feed a sub standard product to your child. In poor tropical countries like India, another concern is about sterility of baby food. While fresh milk is usually boiled before feeding and thus made sterile, formulas are not boiled after reconstitution and run a risk of infection. Complementary foods made at home are not only cheaper, but superior in all aspects. 

Doordarshan News: BPNI experts talk about breastfeeding scenario in India

Please see the full report from DD News here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZrMqZlzi2g&feature=youtu.be

We continue to urge mothers to breastfeed their new born baby within an hour of being born.

Melinda Gates says Breast Milk is a miracle potion

Hindustan Times recently published this interview with Melinda Gates in which she quotes the benefits of breastfeeding your child. It is ironical that WABA (World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action), the organisation which started the whole concept of breastfeeding promotion week, gets no mention. Neither does BPNI(Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India) or IBFAN (International Baby Food Action Network). These organizations have been promoting and educating people about the benefits of breastfeeding for a good thirty years now. But of course, it takes an American billionaire to be heard! This is a bittersweet moment. I am thankful that Mrs. Gates has taken up the right statistics and is making and effort to educate people. But I am disgusted that our media houses refuse to publish the exact same thing when it comes out of Indian agencies!
However, the facts are out- breast milk IS the best food for your newborn.

All about vaccinations

Vaccinations are essential preventive medicines, which have greatly reduced infant mortality rate. India has been proud to be polio-free because of government policies to make the polio vaccination essential for every child under five years of age.
However, there is now a plethora of vaccinations available and this post is an attempt to the guide the parents to make a good choice. Here are the facts:

1. Manufacturers claim efficacy figures (say, 85% with one dose or 93% with two doses etc.) and also report side effect figures (say, 1 in 10000 patients report a side effect). These figures are not easily understood by the consumer into their own context.

2. Vaccinations are effective only if more than 85% of a large sample set (e.g. an entire nation) benefits from taking the vaccination over a long period of time. (For example, if a vaccination was tested on only 200 people claims an efficacy of 90% for one year, it does not mean anything). They are not individual treatment drugs (except the Rabies vaccination).

3. The usual cry of "if you can afford it, why not take it?" is  fraudulent method of pushing non-essential expensive (and in many cases, inadequately tested) vaccines to rich parents. The immunization acquired due to large-scale immunization (called "herd immunization") cannot be achieved by immunization of a select few of the population.

4. Vaccinations are drugs, and require a clinical trial. The only licensing authority in India is the Drug Controller General of India(DCGI). Imported vaccinations also need to be re-licensed by the DCGI. "WHO Prequalification" is NOT an adequate license to sell in India.

5. Ministry of Health (Government of India) is the only authority that notifies inclusion of a vaccinations in the Indian Immunization Programmes. In case of epidemics like Swine Flu, please visit a government hospital. Do not blindly take individual vaccination. A few months ago, there was much hue and cry about a swine flu breakout. Many of those cases turned out to be common cold/ flu. The only beneficiary of this public scare were the vaccine manufacturers, who got rid of their near-expiry stock.

In conclusion, please stick to the immunization schedule listed by the health ministry. Mission Indradhanush lists the seven vaccinations which are absolutely essential : diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles, HIB and hepatitis B. In addition to these, tetanus and rabies vaccinations may be administered in case of accidents and mammal bites respectively.  Do not fall prey to powerful MNCs pushing unnecessary expensive vaccinations under the garb of philanthropy. Exclusive breastfeeding is proven to boost immunity against many types of pneumonia and against many viruses and bacteria that cause diarrhoea, leading to the hypothesis that breastfed children may not require a rotavirus vaccination.  

Update: GOI has announced four more vaccinations to included in Indradanush programme soon.

Maggi and the trend of unhealthy snacks

Recently, Maggi has been thrown into the news for having high MSG content. MSG(Mono Sodium Glutamate) is the Sodium salt of Glutamate proteins- a common flavour enhancing additive that has many ill effects on health and many studies have linked it to diabetes. (some facts here: http://www.msgtruth.org/whatisit.htm)

Even without MSG concerns, Maggi/instant noodles are NOT a healthy snack, not even the "atta" or "oats" variants. They are highly processed foods that are carbohydrate-heavy: they do not provide the essential vitamins, minerals or  fibre required for a growing child. Nor do they have significant amounts of protein. It is much better to use grain which are less processed- like wheat and rice, as found in any Indian home, to make fresh healthy food for your children. Even other snacks, like biscuits, wafers and chips are over processed and have a lot of fats and carbohydrates and not enough nutritional value. No wonder our cities have shown such an increase in the number of overweight children!

Nestle products have come under questioning worldwide many, many times. But these are multinational corporations that have the wealth and power to get away with it most of the time. Even the Indian government policy advocates fresh home-cooked food for children. Keep your child's snacks simple and fresh- a well washed apple or a home cooked soup is any day a better snack than the over marketed, well-advertised packaged food that tries to lure us in.

Wasteful Expenditure on Child Health: Skincare

Skincare for Newborns

Scenario: The massage of newborns has been practised since time immemorial. It is believed that massage helps strength of muscles and bones. This wrong belief led to mushrooming of tens of brands of baby oils and baby cosmetics. To the contrary, in tropical countries, pediatricians have been observing more and more allergic dermatitis and seborrhoeic dermatitis.

Fact: A multicentric review article on neonatal skincare published Indian Pediatrics July 2010 issue clearly states that neonatal skin should not be rubbed at all because of loose connection between upper layer of skin (epidermis) and the lower layer of skin (dermis), as friction can cause blisters. Oil application on scalp can lead to blockage and hence swelling and infection of natural oil glands (sebaceous glands) and lead to seborrhoeic dermatitis. The crusty itchy deposit that you may have noticed on an infant's head is a result of excessive oiling of scalp. All baby soaps or shampoos are synthetic detergents, disguised under the label  'syndets'. But the consumer should notice that they claim only about having a pH matching that of human skin (balanced pH). They don't at all mention allergenic potential of all the chemicals in the ingredients.

For the consumer's interest, an MLA of Maharashtra, many years ago, had admitted a single line PIL against a big MNC asking “please tell us as to what is 'baby' in your product”? (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2005-03-16/news/27489620_1_fda-commissioner-the-fda-baby-product) Till today, there has been no answer. Recently Maharashtra FDA terminated the license of a famous company as carcinogens and allergens were found in its baby talc. (http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Johnson-Johnsons-licence-for-cosmetics-cancelled/articleshow/19760664.cms). The aforementioned article in Indian Pediatrics concluded by cautioning against the use of any synthetic detergents or baby oils. Only coconut oil is recommended, that too, only in winter, never in hot and humid weather (which prevails for a long time in a large part of our country). It is sad that even this very scientific article was supported by a grant from Johnson and Johnson. No funding was received for writing this blogpost though!

In summary, neonates need to be bathed (splashed) only with plain clean water. No rubbing should be done on skin. Wrap and dry them in plain cotton sheets (preferable over rough towels). No soap, detergent, talc or oil should ever be used during first couple of months. Skin health is maintained by internal nutrition, i.e. Exclusive breastfeeding for first six months and thereafter adequate complementary feeding with home cooked foods. Benefit of “kinesthetic stimulation” can be achieved by gently pressing leg and arm muscles while feeding.

Baby oils, talc, soaps and other cosmetic products are wasteful expenditure worth thousands of rupees. They cause discomfort to the newborn and take another couple of thousand rupees for treatment, all of which is completely avoidable.