PROMOTING BREASTFEEDING

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Health what steps his Ministry have taken to promote breastfeeding and what are the future plans.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: In the 1970s and early 1980s, breast-feeding declined and reached a low level of 46% in 1983. However, with better education this trend has been reversed. Nowadays, 67% of mothers breast-feed their babies.

The Ministry has an on-going programme to promote breast-feeding. Women attending Government clinics and public hospitals for antenatal care are encouraged to breast-feed their babies. During the postnatal period further encouragement and help is given and breast-fed babies room-in with their mothers. Some hospitals have nurses whose specific function is to assist mothers, particularly first-time mothers, initiate and maintain breast-feeding. Members of the voluntary group, the Singapore Breast-feeding Mothers' Support Group are often at hand to provide support to breast-feeding. Hospitals also provide follow-up activities after discharge such as a hot-line or domiciliary service on request.

Health educational materials such as pamphlets, posters, slide tapes and videotapes are available to health personnel for promotion of breast-feeding. Breast-feeding is incorporated into the curriculum of student nurses, medical students and pharmacy undergraduates. The importance of breast-feeding is also included in the curriculum of secondary school students in subjects like biology and home economics.

In 1979 the Ministry set up the Sale of Infant Food Ethics Committee which drew up the "Code of Ethics on Sale of Infant Formula Products in Singapore". The Code aims to protect breast-feeding and has served as a useful working document for all who are involved in the promotion and sale of infant formula products in Singapore. Adherence to the Code by milk firms is obligatory. This is being monitored by the Committee.

To create a more suportive environment for breast-feeding mothers, government clinics will have a breast-feeding room for mothers to breast-feed their babies while in the clinics, where feasible.