A Samoan medical doctor has spoken of the many benefits of breast milk for mothers who’ve just given birth to their babies and for the long-term benefit of the infant.

Dr Hansell Dixon Leong, who is with the World Health Organisation (WHO) office in Samoa, told the Samoa Observer recently that breast milk has a lot of other benefits than just its health impact on the development of an infant. 

"It [breast milk] has got all the necessary nutrients, antibodies, cheap, accessible, readily available, right temperature, adequately stored, and other benefits to mother babies like bonding," Dr Leong said. 

According to WHO awareness, breast milk is considered the top choice for a baby's first food and it mainly consists of water, fat, protein, as well as vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes and hormones.

The awareness on the benefits of breast milk comes four weeks before Samoa joins other countries in marking World Breastfeeding Week which runs from 1–7 August 2022.

A study on breastfeeding in Samoa conducted in 2017 – whose findings were published in a report titled “Breastfeeding in Samoa: A Study to Explore Women's Knowledge and the Factors which Influence Infant Feeding Practices” – found from feedback sourced from its 126 participants that a lot of Samoan women knew of the advantages of breastfeeding.

The study found that 72 per cent of the participants acknowledged that one benefit of breastfeeding is that it “develops an emotional bond between mother and baby” and 52 per cent were aware that breastfeeding “reduces risk of long-term health problems for baby.”

More than half of the participants in the study believed that 12 months is ample time for exclusive infant breastfeeding while close to a quarter were not sure.

Some of the participants also reported being discouraged from breastfeeding because of tobacco use and others reported difficulty initiating breastfeeding.

A small number of women mentioned they were concerned about transmitting infections via breast milk in the 2017 study.