Dear Fellow Lactnetters:
I have friends who are missionaries in Uganda. The area has been very
unsettled, with frequent evacuations because of rebel attacks and many people
living in Displaced Persons Camps. With their permission, I am posting some
excerpts of recent e-mail to me, hoping to share some of your wisdom and
ideas.
Last Sunday, Aug 6, 2 women left the Internally Displaced Peoples Camp with
military escort. They were going back to their villages to collect food from
their gardens to eat. One woman walked ahead, and was shot and killed by
rebels. It is a horrible story. She left behind a lame husband and 3
children. Kobusinge was her youngest, less than 4 months old. Formula
feeding in such camps is not a possiblity and usually such children are left
to die. For some reason, maybe the lack of food, no one nurses them.
This little girl was bought to the mission in Bundi and we got word of it 24
hours after the mom died. We sent Michael to go get her (at that time not
even knowing if she was a boy or girl). Seven hours later she was in my arms
and was sucking beautifully. JD, also with World Harvest, and I have been
nursing her. JD has a 4 month old, and Liana turned a year in July. It is a
gift from God to be able to do such a thing...and especially after all of the
struggles with Acacia's nursing. We figured that together we could get a lot
of breast milk into her, but would also need to supplement with formula.
(JD's first child began dropping wieght percentiles at 4 months and she had
been concerned about it happening again). This morning we were realizing
that she is getting lazy and prefers the bottle. we still try to make her
nurse a few minutes before each bottle now and for her middle of the night
feeding, she will accept the breast. I was wondering where exactly we went
wrong and if we can reverse her preference.
Sometimes Kobusinge and Liana nurse at the same time, it is neat. We'd
love to have any of your insight into how to best do what we are doing.
Thanks for the input. Neither of us are on oral contraceptives, but she
is on Depo. Does that effect it?
Feel free to put whatever you want about this issue out to your lactation
list. I'd love to hear any input others have, too. We are also looking into
encouraging wet nursing in the communities. Babwisi culture has strong
family ties, people will quickly pick up their relative's children after the
parents pass away. The problem is nursing infants, though. They die.
People are reluctant to wet nurse. On a few, rare occasions, Jennifer Myhre,
the team pediatrician, has gotten a family member to wet nurse successfully,
with some monetary assistance for extra food and lost production in their
fields. Anyway, if you know any studies or can suggest any good books or
articles on the subject that would be helpful. I am sure Kobusinge will not
be the last infant brought to the mission, especially with the attention we
are giving her. We want to encourage the community to embrace these infants.
I look forward to hearing from many of you in regard to this situation. I
gave her some ideas to get her started, and would love to share some other
thoughts.
Thank you for your input!
-Debi Page Ferrarello, RN, IBCLC
Breastfeeding Resources, Inc.
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