Celebrating Breastfeeding African Style
Nan Jolly
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 36
No. 6, December 2000-January 2001, p. 117
Tuesday 18th April, 2000,
I was offered an opportunity I could not pass up. I was given the chance
of a ride to Mdantsane, South Africa, where Baby Friendly Hospital status
would be awarded to the Cecelia Makiwane Hospital, the first in the
Eastern Cape Province. Mdantsane is a two-and-one-half hour drive from
my house, and I wanted to be home by 5:30, in time to get ready for
our LLL fundraising soiree. Since the ceremonies were scheduled from
9:00 am to 12:30 pm, I figured this was a chance I could afford to take.
Even allowing an extra couple of hours for "African time," I should
be home in time to get to the fundraiser.
We left at 6:00 am, to be
in good time. After the long drive over the mountains where mists made
driving slower than planned, and getting lost in Mdantsane, we arrived
at the hospital at 10:45 am, only slightly concerned about being late,
having realised that African time applied.
A huge marquee had been erected
in the parking lot and the world was there to celebrate. All dressed
splendidly, in their most impressive regalia, including faces decorated
with interesting patterns of dots painted on in white, amazing beadwork,
and, oddly, bras worn as outer garments. Colourful and exciting. Most
of the hospital staff, the neighbourhood, including children from schools,
were there. Africans are not embarrassed by breastfeeding, and are uninhibited
when proud of an achievement. There must have been a few thousand people
in the parking lot, jostling around. There was a group of women dancing,
in full tribal regalia, ululating and stamping with energy, one with
a baby tied to her back, impervious to the din, keeping the crowd entertained.
Chairs were being brought in from the hospital, a platform was being
erected, and flowers were being arranged. Someone was setting up a sound
system--one, two, one, two, one, two could be heard at 100 decibels,
with frequent electronic whines and shrieks. I'm really not sure why
the sound system was needed. Apparently the tent had been erected late,
so that was why the programme hadn't started yet. At least we weren't
late.
The programme started at
11:25, pretty briskly, with an opening prayer that only lasted 10 minutes,
after the preacher explained that he had been asked to omit his usual
sermon because of the tight schedule! Oratory is a prized art in Africa.
There were brief speeches introducing the long speeches. All audible
without the microphone, and they used the microphone.
Each speech was preceded
by a praise-singer, and followed by a choir performance. A praise-singer
is dressed in tribal dress-furs, feathers, skins, spears, beads, and
painted face--and leaps about energetically making noises like someone
trying to imitate a lion or other ferocious beast, singing the praises
of the person about to speak. Each praise-singer also used the microphone,
unnecessarily. The choirs were excellent, especially the one from the
Correctional Services Dept. Now and then we had a dance from the community
health workers accompanied by drums.
The keynote speaker was a
local politician who made the most of this opportunity to impress the
voters. I missed most of his speech, which was almost all in Nhosa,
but got the gist-Africans had always breastfed, then the white colonists
had come and brought the evil bottle, but now Africans had struggled
to overcome it, and had triumphed! UNICEF was thanked for assisting
the Africans to rediscover their old skills by initiating the Baby Friendly
Hospital Initiative. A representative from UNICEF presented a plaque,
photos were taken, and the entertainment continued. I noticed the UNICEF
lady discreetly disappeared by 1:00 PM I had asked my driver to please
see that we left in time for me to get home by 5:30, so we left the
tent at 1:30, went on a quick tour of the maternity and pediatric departments
in the hospital, and left by 2:25.
I had previously only seen
a small private hospital that was baby-friendly. It was absolutely wonderful
seeing what had happened in this hospital. It is a large state hospital
that had all the old standard practices - separation of mother and baby,
four-hour feeds, formula supplements etc. Now posters about breastfeeding
cover the walls everywhere; the staff brimmed over with pride and excitement
as they boasted that there are no bottles or teats in the entire hospital!
Not even for the abandoned babies! I saw mothers of premature babies
getting cups and syringes out of a sterilizer, expressing their milk
into cups to tube-feed or cup-feed. The mothers and babies are not separated
- they don't have bassinets next to the bed anymore; babies lie in bed
with the mother. They are glad to report no baby has fallen out of bed.
The premature nursery was occupied by mothers who carried their tiny
babies kangaroo-style in their gowns, or were touching and feeding them
in the incubators. There were beds for the mothers in the room right
next to the nursery. In the paediatric wards, the mothers are given
three meals a day and a mattress to sleep on next to their child's bed.
The staff members are thrilled at all the help they get from mothers
with the nursing. I was impressed and inspired.
The trip home took a little
longer than we had anticipated, and I arrived home at 6:30, changed,
and rushed to the soiree, which started only 10 minutes late!
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:32:08 UTC 2007.
