To genuinely wonder why newvorn babies affected by Kenyan drought are malnourished?

[Lainey1981]

Genuine quesrion.
Just watching the news and saw a 3 month old baby who weighs about 4lb. Horribly malnourished.
AIBU to wonder why these babies are not being breastfed? Has the famine/drought made it so the mother's can't feed? Or is this part of the wider Nestle/formula manufacturers issue? Which admittedly I don't fully understand.

I was severely depressed when I had my son nine years ago and I hardly ate. I did drink, but I only ate about 100 calories a day at most.

I found that my milk supply was not affected until my weight fell below 7 stone.
I still produced milk, but my son just fed constantly. My son put on weight and followed his line in the red book.

Even then I never got as thin as these women because I had good medical care.

it is a fair question, why shouldn't you have posted it?

Lainey, you may find this interesting to read - Nestle boycott

It goes on every day Lainey, its a sad fact that although it has come to light in the news recently because of the famine, many of those mothers, even outside of famine are malnourished and very poor so it just worsens in times like this. Especially if they live in the more remote villages.
I lived in Nigeria for a little while and quite honestly you see malnourished children routing in rubbish tips with no clothes on every time you make a road trip. You see malnourished mothers begging on the streets for their babies and people just basically dying by the roadside. I'm afriad thats the life of many people living in Africa every day. Its heart breaking and life changing.

Really tired underminding bf increases overpopulation due to the contraceptive affect of bfing. When a baby is kept close to mum, feeding regularly both day and night- and by this i do not mean every four hours, but regularly it prevents a woman's periods returning too soon. There is less on an affect in many western women as they don't follow such a babyled approach- ie not as much babywearing, constant fdeeding cosleeping etc. I am sure i read in POB that bfing prevents more babies every year than all other methods of contraception put together.

and also, more babies die when fed formula because of contaminated water etc etc

if lots of your babies die, then you produce more children in the hope that some of them will stay alive.

so whereas families may have used to only have 3 or 4 children, they may now have 8, 9, 10...
and yes, while many of those will sadly die it does still contribute to over-population.

i read an incredibly sad story on the BBC site yesterday about a mother with 5 or 6 children who had to leave her sick child behind in the desert because he couldn't make the journey to Kenya
actually it's making me cry just thinking about it

When my DS3 was two months old I was ill and was unable to keep food down for several days. I did drink but also had diarohea and so was no doubt very dehydrated. I was shocked by how after a day or so my milk seemed less satisfying and my baby was needing to feed for longer and longer. I remember thinking then that if this is what just a few days of little or no food can do to your milk and baby what must it be like for mums who permanently have very little food. Yanbu for posting this question - we should all become more aware of the dreadful consequences of famine.

thisisyesterday - I find I can't watch the coverage. I'm feeding my 4 month-old and it just breaks my heart.

Also, with regard to food an milk supply, again in POB there was a study done somewhere in Africa, (sorry for hazy details!) and the researchers increased the womans diet, which had previously been very poo and practically malnorished, by feeding them high calorie enhanced biscuits. They expected their results to show that the women's milk quantity and quality increased. It did not.

What they did find however, was that a woman's fertility increased- her periods returned earlier than expected.

Apparently they then faced the dilema of whether to try to advise that the women's diets were improved for the health and well being of the women, but then face the risk that she could then fall pregnant again quickly which would be detrimental to herself, her current baby and her new child/pregnancy.

I am baby lead and cosleep with dd and periods returned at 7 months. I bf dd for 22 months as she self weaned

With ds my periods returned at 28 moths. Ds stopped breastfeeding at 33 months.

I think that the contraceptive affect of breastfeeding breaks down when there is a plentiful supply of food for both mother and child.

Sorry for all sp mistakes! i should really review before i hit post!

thisisyesterday that is awful. The poor, poor woman. :(

it is very upsetting to see or hear about malnourishment and indeed starvation but is it upsetting enough to have African countries released from their debt obligations? I think African countries now owe something like 200 billion in debts they can never repay. The interest is crippling. They have no realistic chance of grappling iwth all the social problems of poverty even without drought.

I think really this has to be done. Shock reports on yet another drought/war/disaster and a call for emergency relief - that's all it ever amounts to year in, year out. If Africa is to have a chance, we need to cancel the bulk of the debts

I agree Zen, but I don't think it will solve all the problems until corruption in government is ended. Countries keep giving to Africa but much of that money doesnt actually get to the people but stays wrapped up in politician's pockets.

yes I agree

Lack of food for animals. The people most affected are not farmers, their main food source is their animals which themselves have died from lack of food and water. 1500-1800 calories a day is too little for a bf mother to maintain her adequate milk. The mothers in the camps and those walking for days/weeks to get there are taking in far less calories than that.

I understand where people are going with the ideas about formula leading to over population but I must say that this is not always the case in africa. Most african cultures value large families, women are encouraged to have a lot of children it has nothing to do with bf or ff. And from my sister's experience bf will not buy you three years of contraception. She bought into this myth and fell pregnant seven months after her first inspite of breasfeeding exclusively she carried bfing till the new baby was born as well. It all depends on how fertile the woman is also when babies wean they dont breastfeed as much so you cant use bfing as a contraceptive for three years.

Yes, but what i said above that "westernised" Bfing is not the same as a more traditional approach to bfing where the baby is worn by the mother and helps himself to the breast many times an hour day and night. This sort of bfing does act as a contraceptive, whereas feeding every few hours with longer gaps at night will not necessarily prevent you ovulating again.

Bananamash, I am a William Sears fan and I let both my children on demand.

In most of the world life is hard. I think that extended breastfeeding in the third world is often over romantised. Its one thing to extended breastfeed because you choose to, completely another to extended breastfeed/ tandem feed because that is the only way of keeping your children alive.

I know lots of people in La Leche League with small age gaps. They co sleep and bf on demand.

I find it so very, very upsetting to watch. What can I do to help?

Seriously, watching those poor children makes me want to do something to help. I don't have much money, but I'll do what it takes.

Christ, this world is so shit and unfair.

Bananmash, these women have to work very hard on farm etc even when there is no drought. they wear their babaies on their back because its easier to work that way but it doesnt mean they are interrupting work to feed the babies. I agree with reallytired over romanticising breastfeding in the third world. I have lived in a third world country where for five years(Burkina Faso) and there is no one handing out formula to mothers for free. Nestle did in the past but the whole world came so hard on them they stopped. Africans who feed their babies formula are not the poor ones we see on tv, they are the one who can pay close to western prices for it.
The starving ones we see are so dirt poor their body doesnt work anymore. If you are surviving on boiled leather from cows hide and not drinking enough water how are you going to produce milk? In addition not eating enough messes up the very hormones that produce breast milk...the closest example to this in the west is anorexic women not having periods, not eating enough changes the way your body works dramatically

Nooby It is shit and unfair and its very difficult to affect the situation with our donation - am not saying not to donate money (I do myself)- but until the corrupt political leaders are taken out the money doesnt go to these poor people. And until the west stops manipulating the systems in these countries for their own gain the corrupt politicians will always be in power. Its a vicious cycle. Maybe if we stop dumping our toxic waste and stuff in these countries and cutting their trees to make cheap furniture their climate will recover enough for the rain to fall again. Its not the lushest part of africa and global warming is not helping

I have been in an anorexic state while breastfeeding. It really messed up my dental heath and physically it took serveral months to recover.

Its not fun being that thin

a 3month old baby who weighs 4lbs must have been born severley underweight and possibly early, this will be due to the mother's severe malnutrition during pregnancy and before - even with really good nutrition in the baby's three months of life it would still be struggling to catch up...