As part of breastfeeding week, from October 14 to 20, focus on support for young mothers at Taaone hospital. Since February, 7 osteopaths have been working in maternity, thanks to a grant from the Country. The mothers say they are satisfied, but this support will end in November.
Eihau is 4 days old and already has a lot of information to assimilate. To help him latch on correctly, the expert hands of the osteopath gently guide him. “I test his suction a littleexplains Cécile Zeller, osteopath trained in perinatal care. I see he’s working a lot with his joints on the sides of his jaw. He tries hard and is quite efficient. We’ll try to make it easier for him. With my little finger placed on the roof of my mouth, it’s exactly the right shape, you just have to have no nails or nail polish, obviously. This allows you to have a point of support to be able to work with the base of the skull, which is an area that can be quite constrained during childbirth.“
Milk coming in, placement of the infant’s tongue, positioning facing the untileach point is addressed so that Herenui, the young mother, enjoys breastfeeding. “The first two days were difficult. she says. Then there was the osteopath who intervened. It actually helped to be more comfortable. Today baby is able to latch on to the breast better, I have less pain during breastfeeding.“
Since February, seven osteopaths have been working twice a week at the Taaone hospital. Thanks to a subsidy from the territory of 3 million 500,000 Pacific francs. The only downside is that this support will end in November. “We noticed that it did a lot of good for babies, notes Cathy Mallo, childcare worker at the hospital. We see a difference in breastfeeding: the mothers are very happy, the staff are also very happy because it is something that we can do in addition for these mothers in difficulty. And we have a bit of a feeling of abandonment, as some midwives would say, when there will no longer be these osteopaths.“
Beyond the strengthening mother-child bond, breastfeeding reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases and promotes better child growth, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). “We are really in the business of long-term prevention, explains Cécile Zeller. In fact, breastfeeding which is ideally maintained for up to 6 months exclusively and up to 2 years mixed, the WHO has noted that it prevents obesity. And who says preventing obesity, says preventing cardiovascular diseases, says preventing type II diabetes, sleep apnea and certain cancers [sein et ovaires ndlr]. We really have a public health approach which is extremely important.“
In French Polynesia, the rate of breastfeeding at birth is quite high: 89% in 2011 (compared to 74% in France). This reflects a real desire of families to breastfeed their child. However, this rate decreases rapidly: at 3 months it is only 61% and at 6 months it is only 21%.
98% of young mothers in Taaone say they are satisfied with osteopathy sessions with their newborns. The maternity service therefore hopes to continue this partnership, provided it receives a new grant.
A hotline (free) exists to support breastfeeding mothers: 40 48 61 48. They can also obtain immediate and free answers by sending an email to [email protected].
