support breast-feeding By Nicole Williams Smith King Edward VII Memorial Hospital will launch a new `Breast-feeding Clinic' this December to help support nursing mothers.

The new clinic will provide mothers-to-be and new mothers with a myriad of services and a support network.

Bermuda's only medical hospital is a strong proponent of the benefits of breast-feeding and encourages those mothers who choose to breast-feed to continue to do so for at least the first six months of life.

But surveys have shown that many women give up breast-feeding within two weeks of giving birth. And the number of nursing mothers drops dramatically by the third through sixth month.

According to community health visitor Carmel Baxter, breast-feeding is almost becoming a lost art.

"Today, most of us have memories of seeing babies feeding from a bottle,'' she recently said. "The images come from everywhere, T.V., newspapers, even children's dolls often come with a feeding bottle full of milk -- `tip the bottle up and the milk disappears'.

"It's hard to avoid the bottle-feeding culture!'' But Ms Baxter maintained that breast milk was a unique food that no manufacturer could ever reproduce.

She said: "Breast milk is special! It is a living find! The mother makes it especially for her baby, so it is the most special food there is. No manufactured product can ever come close.'' Ms Baxter said that the basic nutrients in breast milk were protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins and minerals.

"The added extras are antibodies to protect the baby until his own immune system has developed hormones and enzymes.'' Although it is a natural process, breast-feeding is a skill that needs to be learned.

To help facilitate this, KEMH currently has two lactation consultants working on the maternity unit. The lactation consultants focus directly on the needs of the mothers and their newborns in relation to all aspects of breast-feeding.

At the moment there are four lactation consultants in Bermuda -- Lena Oswoff and Christine Edelsen with LaLeche League and the Maternity Child Unit's Lisa Blyden and Hilda Gray.

To further nurture the consultants efforts, KEMH will put into action a plan they had had in the developmental stages -- a `breast-feeding clinic'.

The clinic will provide mothers and mothers-to-be with the following prenatal, in-hospital and post-natal services: Prenatal: Classes on making the decision to breast-feed, the anatomy and physiology of breast-feeding; One-on-one consultations with anxious mothers-to-be and adoptive mothers regarding breast-feeding; Special classes for teen mothers and `how to help classes for partners/family members who are supporting a nursing mother; and Consultants may even be available to consult the corporate sector on how to make the workplace `breast-feeding friendly.

In-hospital: Daily reviews of each breast-feeding mother/baby and practical assistance; and Every nursing mother will be offered a follow-up appointment for one-to-three days after being discharged from the hospital.

Post-natal hospital visits: Routine checks of mother/baby to monitor progress; Breast pump rentals; and Support mothers who are breast-feeding their sick infant on Gosling Ward.

KEMH will also `practice what they preach' by providing a suitable area within their four-walls where their own staff, who are still nursing, can have use of breast pumps and have access to safe storage facilities for their milk.

In addition to the KEMH, there are several local organisations that offer advice and help to nursing mothers including the Community Health Visitors, the Nursing Practice and La Leche League of Bermuda.

Breast is best: Breast milk is a unique food that no manufacturer could ever reproduce.