Most Malaysian Mothers Are Shy To Breastfeed

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- Very few Malaysian mothers fully breastfeed their offspring, a senior official of the Malaysian Child Welfare Council said Saturday.
Tan Sri Zaleha Ismail, who is president of the Malaysian Child Welfare Council, said a study on national health and morbidity conducted from 1996 to 2005 showed that only 29 per cent of mothers breastfed their babies fully and continuously for four months.
She said children needed to be fully breastfed for at least six months so that they could develop immunity against communicable diseases.
Earlier, she launched the Breastfeeding Week themed "Code Watch: 25 Years Protecting Breast-feeding" at the Islamic Centre here.
Zaleha said a United Nations' study showed that some 1.5 million children around the world have died because they were not breastfed.
She said employers must support mothers who want to breastfeed their babies.
She, however, pointed out that some companies had provided special rooms for their staff to breastfeed their babies and that some shopping complexes had also provided breastfeeding rooms in their premises.