The challenge of breastfeeding in a remote jungle village

On June 8th, a healthy 7lbs11oz baby boy entered the world at the Raintree Clinic. His joyful parents named him Saw Ler Pweh Wah…. Mr. Completely Good. Three days after delivery, Mr. Good headed to his new home in the jungle village. Breastfeeding in the village is an important but complicated and quite public matter. Everyone is worried about the quantity of mother’s milk and many offer well-meaning but often ill-informed advice. Mom soon came to believe her breast milk wasn’t enough for her growing son. So, she supplemented her feedings a few times with the only other option she had available….condensed milk in a bottle. Unfortunately, the variety of condensed milk found in the jungle has almost no nutrition. After that, the baby seemed to prefer the bottle feedings over breastfeeding. Over the course of the next few weeks. Saw Ler Pweh Wah slowly lost weight. 

Mothers love to bring their fat happy babies to the clinic… indisputable evidence of their superior mothering skills. On the other hand, mothers also sometimes feel guilty for a chronically skinny baby, and want to try one more home remedy before they admit public defeat. So, the very babies who need medical care the most sometimes remain hidden in the village, even if they have easy access to a clinic. 

After six weeks, Saw Ler Pweh Wah’s mom was desperate. She brought him back to the Raintree Clinic. The baby had dropped almost 2 pounds. Our staff checked him over carefully. They gave him antibiotics, even though he didn’t have a fever. Sometimes, malnourished babies are so weak that they can’t even mount a fever response to severe infections. Finding no other causes to explain the weight loss other than a simple misunderstanding about the dietary needs of a baby, we went back to the basics. The baby sucked well, so we restarted breastfeeding and supplemented that with a High Energy Formula. Day and night, our Physician Assistants gave the baby and his mother special attention and encouragement. Soon, breast feeding was back on track. After 5 days, the baby was well on his way to being Mr. Completely Good again. Staff discharged him home after 10 days and scheduled close follow up.

Written by a staff member working for our local partner Earth Mission Asia