Grandmothers take up breastfeeding to give babies healthy lives

Umazi Nyondo, 55, was excited when her last born daughter told her she was expectant.

It meant that Umazi would be a grandmother.

However, the joy was shortlived. Her daughter became sick just a few days after giving birth.

Doctors described the condition as post-traumatic stress disorder.

The young Umazi's condition meant that the mother would not be in a position to breastfeed because health workers were afraid she could unintentionally harm the infant.

VERY SICK

“My daughter breastfed the baby for only two weeks before becoming very sick. Her condition grew worse when the man who was responsible for the pregnancy abandoned her,” the granny said. 

Ms Umazi tried giving the infant regular cow milk she bought from the shop to no avail.

The baby rejected it and never stopped crying.  

“My grandchild was crying day and night due to hunger. To make matters worse, I could not afford the milk daily," she said.

When the child was born three years ago, doctors recommended that he be exclusively breastfed for at least six months.

RADICAL DECISION

But that was long before Ms Umazi’s daughter fell sick. What was the grandmother to do?

"I wanted the best for my grandchild,” said Ms Umazi.

Tired, anguished and desperate, she took a drastic and radical decision. Ms Umazi decided to breastfeed her grandchild.

“It worked! Although I did not have enough milk, the baby slept soundly when I fed him. He never cried again,” Ms Umazi recalled.

Excited, the grandmother went to Tudor Sub-County Hospital to get approval to breastfeed the child.

The doctors had to ensure she was medically fit for that tough task. 

HEALTH IMPROVED

The woman was worried that she was too old to breastfeed or that her milk would harm the baby. 

That was not to be. She underwent HIV/Aids, haemoglobin count and other tests before being given a clean bill of health.

From that point, her grandson’s health improved. 

She says the baby’s growth was remarkable “since I fed him exclusively on breast milk for seven months”.

The boy is now three years old. He calls Ms Umazi his “mother” and his biological mother his “sister”.

“I began weaning him when he was eight months old and he stopped taking breast milk when he was two,” Ms Umazi said.

MEDICAL TESTS

Ms Martina Adega, a nutritionist from Pwani Lishe Bora — a Mombasa lobby that champions better feeding — praises the elderly woman for taking the rare initiative. 

“She enabled her grandson to attain full nutritional status. An infant must be breastfed exclusively for six months. However, before anyone decides to breastfeed another person’s baby, she must undergo medical tests. Babies are weak and must be protected from HIV/Aids and other infections,” Ms Adega said.

To ensure that Ms Umazi was fit to breastfeed her grandson, she was given 'Advantage Plus' porridge flour.

This special flour is usually given at hospitals.

Doctors say it improves the health of the one breastfeeding.

FACED CRITICISMS

"When one clocks 45 years, she must get enough calcium to improve the quality of her breast milk,” the nutritionist said.

The flour is enriched with vitamins and minerals that ensure optimal absorption of nutrients required by a woman to produce milk.

Although this solved one problem, Ms Umazi faced criticism from neighbours and relatives, who thought it was wrong for anyone to breastfeed another person’s baby.

“I could not let my grandchild die because he lacked milk," she said of her decision to ignore the criticism.

"There are naysayers in every village and society”

NUTRITIONAL NEEDS

 A nurse at Tudor Hospital, Tabitha Kinuthia, where Ms Umazi and her grandson’s health are being monitored, said cases of grandmothers breastfeeding are rare.

“But it is necessary and beneficial, especially in her situation since the child’s mother was ailing. I know it raises eyebrows when a child is breastfed by a grandmother but that is not a medical taboo. What is important is the health of the two,” she said.

According to the World Health Organisation, breast milk provides all the energy and nutrients an infant needs in the first months of its life.

It continues to provide up to half or more of a child’s nutritional needs during the second half of the first year, and up to one-third during the second year.

WELL-BEING

Breast milk promotes sensory and cognitive development and protects the infant against infectious and chronic diseases, doctors say.

Exclusive breastfeeding reduces infant mortality caused common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea or pneumonia, and aids quick recovery from illnesses.

It also contributes to the health and well-being of mothers by helping them to space children and reducing the risk of ovarian and breast cancer, research has shown.

Mombasa County Health Director Shem Patta and other doctors, says Ms Umazi’s health was closely monitored during the breastfeeding period.

“We sensitised her on nutrition and sanitation and this helped her take care of the child properly,” Dr Patta said.

CHILD DEATHS

“We had to improve the woman’s health by providing her with corn soya blend and food by prescription.”

The Mombasa County health department and its partners who focus on nutrition have intensified their campaigns on the health benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and affordable ways to have a balanced diet.

According to County Health Nutritionist Esha Bakari, the devolved government is mainly focused on children under five to prevent deaths.

“The World Health Organisation attributes 45 per cent of child deaths to undernutrition,” she said.

“Diseases cause malnutrition and malnutrition causes diseases. It is a cycle. That means nutrition is a very important aspect of life.”

The county has about 198,552 children under-five, 37,995 children under one and 18,998 who are six months or below.

EATING HABITS

According to the latest Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, stunting levels are at 21 per cent, underweight at 9.6 per cent and wasting children who are severely malnourished at 4.1 per cent.

As part of the exclusive breastfeeding campaign, Ms Umazi was recently recognised as the best nutrition champion by the Mombasa county government during a ceremony at Aga Khan Hospital.

Organisers of the ceremony said its aim is to ensure children are not stunted.

“We urge women to depend and cultivate nutritious traditional foods. We are targeting a change of lifestyle in eating habits,” Dr Patta said.

Besides the balanced diet, doctors also emphasise that quantity must be sufficient.

DRUG ADDICT

They teach the women to prepare the food so as to get its optimal nutritional value.

The Saturday Nation interviewed six women championing nutrition by exclusively breastfeeding their grandchildren.

“We are medically fit and have personal reasons for breastfeeding our grandchildren,” one woman from Changamwe Constituency said.

Another 60-year-old from Kisauni Sub-County said she stepped in because she feared her drug addict daughter could infect her grandchildren with diseases.

FEAR STIGMA

“My daughter is a drug addict. She becomes more of a zombie after injecting or inhaling the drugs. I could not allow her to breastfeed my grandchild, knowing very well the risks the baby would be exposed to,” the grandmother of three told this reporter.

The elderly women did not want their identities to be revealed for fear of stigma but said they are happy to see their grandchildren growing up healthy.

“My grandchild is now four months old. I am happy that he is healthy and safe. My daughter used to take drugs even when she was pregnant and that really scared me,” one of them said, adding that the government must step up its campaign against drugs.