THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
The nurse has become fully aware that breastfeeding, one of the major issues in child care today, is generally considered the best milk for infants. How, breastfeeding mothers have decreased so much that the campaign for breastfeeding as a key element is increasingly implemented here in the Philippines by the Department of Health and worldwide by the World Health Organization (WHO) to contribute to the achievement of health for all by the year 2000 through Primary Health Care.
The breastfeeding program embarked by the Department of Health is actively implemented all over the country, from north to south. Researches now and then are being done by Filipino pediatricians, public health workers, nutritionist and nurses and other interested researchers. these studies have motivated planners and implementers alike to focus their attention to the status of the breastfeeding program, particularly on the degree of compliance or acceptance of the program among Filipino families and clientele.
Considering that the public awareness of the advantages of breastfeeding is very high while its degree of compliance is low, the nurse researcher specifically desires to investigate possible reasons behind this current situation which negates the goal of Executive Order (E.O.) No. 51 or the Local Milk code.
Breastfeeding as applied in human nutrition is a process of feeding a newborn milk directly from the breast of the mother whose milk provides all the nutrients a human baby needs including substances that promote growth and help fight infection. Breastfeeding among humans has certain important advantages which are the following: a) provision of significant protective components against chronic diseases such as allergies and asthma; b. anti-infection components against meningitis, diarrhea, ear infections and pneumonia; c. reduction of maternal risk of developing ovarian cancer, pre-menopausal breast cancer, osteoporosis and hip fractures in later life; d. development of mother-infant bonding; e. development of maternal nurturing behaviors; and, f. development of trust of the infant. Any breastfeeding program aims for the attainment of a realization of the aforementioned benefits. The assessment of the success of the breastfeeding program after delivery is based on the attainment of these benefits for both the mother and the child.
Department of Health’s Breastfeeding Program implements due to the following factors:
1. poor orientation of nurses to their roles in the Breastfeeding (BF) program,
2. incompetence of nurses as health educators on breastfeeding caused by lack of content, ineffective strategies, lack of planning and poor evaluation and follow-up by nurses;
3. lack of cooperation of clients due to family’s lack of support to breastfeeding, clients’ low awareness level, negative influence of mass media, absence or lack of administrative support of the BF program, and absence or lack of community linkage as well as support of the BF program and professional nurses.
All the above factors brought about the failure of the BF program resulting to the low level of child health status.
They are various positive factors that bring about the high degree of compliance to the Department of Health Breastfeeding program. These are the following:
1. high level nurses’ awareness of their roles in the Breastfeeding (BF) program,
2. nurses’ competence as health educators on BF program evidenced by the adequacy of content, effective strategies, good planning, good evaluation and follow-up of health education activities by nurses,
3. full cooperation of clients as evidenced by their full support to the BF program, high level of awareness, and positive mass media influence,
4. adequate and strong administrative support to the BF program, and,
5. strong community linkage / support to the BF program and professional...