Several weeks ago many headlines about Trump’s immigration policy broke my heart. At least 2000 young infants were ripped off from their parents since late April on the US-Mexico borders as they are seeking asylum. They crossed the border illegally as they have no proper documents. To be clear, there is no official policy stating that every family crossing the border without legal documents has to be separated. But when an adult is caught crossing border illegally, they are supposed to be criminally prosecuted. If this happens to a parent, it means their children have to be separated from their parents.
But the most horrible news was a
few week ago when an undocumented immigrant mother from Honduras said federal
officials took her daughter away from her while she was breastfeeding in a
detention centre. CNN first reported the incident, the mother was placed in
handcuffs after she resisted. The mother who had her daughter ripped from her
breast is not just emotional; it is physical too.
In lactation science, there are
several probable risks after this incident. There are two hormones that are
directly involved in breastfeeding, one of them is oxytocin, the “love
hormone”. It releases good feeling, relaxing for mothers and induces breastmilk
ejection. When a baby suckles, the mother’s brain’s posterior lobe secretes
oxytocin and it releases breastmilk. If a baby ripped off from the breast while
she was breastfeeding, the breast was still full of milk and that could be pain
for the mother.
When something touches a baby’s
palate, he or she starts to suckle it and it is when the oxytocin comes in too.
The baby’s tongue presses milk from the ducts into baby’s mouth. Therefore, it
is important to break the suction with finger, before remove the baby from the
breast. If the baby was pulled without breaking the suction first, it will
traumatize mother’s nipple. Furthermore, the mother continue making milk, and
without it being expressed, the breast could be engorged, swollen and could
develop mastitis, which in severe stage need surgical drainage.
As for the baby, the separation
will likely affect his or her psychological development as young infant need
attachment to build strong connection to the environment. Baby that is not
breastfed has higher risk to ear infection, gastroenteritis and pneumonia. Even
though it has not reached the target rate from WHO, breastfeeding rate in
developing countries is higher than in developed countries. Breastfeeding save
million life from the making of formula milk with unhygienic water or where the
clean water is inaccessible. Honduras is one of developing countries where the
mother and baby benefits from breastfeeding. Separating breastfeeding children
from their parents will have long term consequences.
The International Lactation
Consultant Association (ILCA), the International Board of Lactation Consultant
Examiners (IBLCE) and the Lactation Education Accreditation and Approval Review
Committee (LEAARC) stand together in opposition to policies that unnecessarily
separate a parent from their infant. I do hope that US government will make a
new procedure to process the illegal immigrant without sacrificing the
children’s future.
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| ps. the image is not related to the article :) |
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