Hospitals push artificial milk despite risks to newborns

​Hyderabad: Newborns should not be given artificial milk for the first six months except under rare circumstances, says the World Health Organization. Yet, the pernicious practice of giving artificial baby milk (ABM) to newborn babies is going on unabated in government as well as private hospitals.

Artificial feeding increases the risk factors and causes diarrhea, respiratory infections, allergies, obesity and also adult health diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

Still, throwing caution to the wind, hospitals in the city have been giving artificial milk to babies, often without the consent of the mother.

For instance, close to 10-20 deliveries take place every day at the Government Maternity Hospital, Koti and almost 60 per cent of the newborn babies are given ABM.

When quizzed about the practice, Dr D Swarnakumari, programme officer, Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT), Government Maternity Hospital, Koti, says: “Only in very rare circumstances, when the mother is unable to produce milk even after several hours, should the baby be fed with artificial milk.”

Mothers are being strategically told that they need to give ABM until the breastfeeding relationship is established. This specious theory is being popularised by the baby food industry in connivance with compliant doctors.

The baby food industry has violated the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods Act 1992 and its 2003 amendment time and again to an extent of 54 times between 2008 and 2016 and continues to spread false notions, says Swetha Naik, a member of the Breastfeeding Support for Indian Mothers (BSIM), a peer-to-peer support group that has chapters in six Indian cities.

A survey conducted by BSIM, which has 29,500 members, revealed that 950 mothers who delivered in private hospitals were given artificial baby milk and many mothers were not even informed.

In the twin cities too, in scores of private and even in government hospitals, newborn babies are given ABM. Within one hour after the baby is born, the mother is supposed to feed the baby, but many nurses, just to make the baby quiet, feed artificial milk.

Members of BSIM say that many a time the doctors are not around and the mother is too weak to know what is happening. So, the nurses feed the baby artificial milk.

T Vijaya Susheela, head nurse, Osmania Hospital, disagrees and says that most nurses are well aware that artificial milk should not be given. Just because of a few nurses, the whole community gets a bad name.”

Aggressive marketing by the baby food industry is leading to the increased use of formula. Explaining the formula trap, Dr Dakshayani, gynaecologist, Maxcure Hospital, says, “If artificial milk is given to the baby, it takes longer to digest and leads to lesser stimulation at the breast. This in turn gives a signal to the brain to produce less milk.

This is formula trap.” ABM comes in the way to establish breastfeeding.The food industry wants mothers to fall into the formula trap.

Swarnakumari adds, “It is very important for the mother and the child to have skin contact. If the baby gets habituated to artificial milk, which flows faster from a bottle, it gets lazy at the breast, which we call nipple confusion.”

Even today there is lack of awareness on breastfeeding and the baby food industry is taking undue advantage of it.

According to Euromonitor report, India sells about 27 million containers of 400 gms each year, which is equal to its babies born. Going by estimates, this number could touch 32.7 million by 2022.”