‘Breast is Best’ – Vanessa Booysen

The South African Breastmilk Reserve (SABR) hosted a successful two-day workshop on 18 and 19 November at Melville Junction Church.

The 20-hour workshop significantly scaled-up efforts to improve infant-feeding practices in the country, with the main focus being breastfeeding and lactation management course.

Department of Health’s national newborn care lead facilitator Vanessa Booysen educated nurses and mothers who were available for the workshop about the importance of breastfeeding newborn babies.

“Breast is best, mothers need to bond with their babies through breastfeeding,” she said.

She reckons that the community should come together and unite through breastfeeding.

“Soapies, radio and adverts should all promote breastfeeding. We should even have breastfeeding as part of our education system… The community should also have support groups where they just talk about breastfeeding.

“We want the community to be empowered, mothers should also be empowered.”

She added that, “There is this misconception that formula feeding [means] you are wealthy, and breastfeeding means you are poor. But in actual fact, formula feeding fills the baby’s stomach and breast feeding fills his soul,” she said.

Breastfeeding activist and executive director at the SABR Stasha Jordan agreed.

“The goal is to reduce infant mortality and premature deaths,” she said.

She said being a mother and a concerned citizen, she hopes the workshop helps mothers bond with their children through breastfeeding.

SABR hopes to start carrying out breastfeeding workshops throughout the country.