Comments on: Breastfeeding and Islam

By: eshev

eshev — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:58:05 +0000

Found it – http://www.unicef.org/policyanalysis/files/FactsheetInvesting.pdf

It actually says that about 4.3 million children in OIC countries die from preventable disease and malnutrition by the age of 5, and 60% of THOSE children die in the first year…… NOT 60% of ALL Muslim children.

By: eshev

eshev — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:37:46 +0000

Even the country with the highest infant mortality rate in the world, Angola, in 1995 only had a rate of 137.90 deaths in the first year per 1000 live births (so, less then 15%), and it is a mostly Christian country. These stats are from the UN.

By: eshev

eshev — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:30:41 +0000

Asalam alaikum – 60% is an unrealistically high rate.

If you check the infant mortality rates, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate, even for 1995 you can see it is far bellow that for even the lowest-ranked arabic country of Yemen, at 78.61 deaths in the first year of live for every 1000 live births.

Saudi Arabi in 1995 had a rate of 22.17 per 1000 live births, ranking them #78 out of 182 countries.

I was unable to find the 2005 UNICEF report mentioned; please provide the documentation. Jazak Allah khair.

By: Hannah Katsman

Hannah Katsman — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:10:49 +0000

Hi Faridah,
Thanks for reading and commenting. The book is available via Amazon.

By: Faridah

Faridah — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:57:59 +0000

Assalamualaikum,

Thank you for the good insight of what happening in Middle East.

I am from Malaysia and while we have very low IMR, we are still struggling to incraese our breastfeeding rates.It’s only 14% exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months.

It’s good to hear from your side of story eventho we have different culture but we have one thing in common..Islam.
SO glad I found this website.

Just wondering, where can I get the book by Dr Modia.Really interested to read it.

Thank you

Faridah

By: Modia Batterjee

Modia Batterjee — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:54:35 +0000

To Leah, the death rates of infants quoted in my book are only the ones related directly to infections and diseases that are caused by lack of breastfeeding. These statistics were taken from UNICEF and WHO.

By: Hannah Katsman @Green Prophet

Hannah Katsman @Green Prophet — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:45:36 +0000

Thanks, Chana, that’s very interesting.

By: Chana Siegel RN

Chana Siegel RN — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:07:15 +0000

No statistics, this is just based on having done a lot of patient intake interviews. (How do you think I learned the Arabic word for “vaccinations?) At least among the Israeli Arabs I have encountered, vaccination is taken for granted and the mothers are almost all in follow-up with the well-baby clinics. The mothers take advantage of all facilities available to their babies, and there are no eccentric exceptions. I have to admit, their high level of vaccination awareness and involvement surprised me when I first started dealing with Moslem women.

Again, I have to expres my admiration for a breastfeeding culture that is alive and well and thriving. Moslem women are strict about modesty, but no one has to go nurse in the toilet, ever. They nurse discretely, and male relatives are not at all prudish about this. A nursing mother is seen as doing something important and valued.

The young mothers generally have learned about nursing from their female relatives, and they benefit from a supportive network. No one has to crawl off and nurse alone; the nursing mother is not isolated as happens too often in Western cultures.

I am distressed to hear that Saudi society’s identity as a nursing culture is weakening. It would be a terrible loss for so many reasons, especially as many Westerners are, paradoxically, trying to build a strong breastfeeding supportive culture at home.

By: Hannah Katsman @Green Prophet

Hannah Katsman @Green Prophet — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:40:14 +0000

Thanks, Chana, for your perspective. I thought that there was a low vaccination rate among Arabs in Israel–do you have statistics?

By: Chana Siegel, RN

Chana Siegel, RN — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:49:26 +0000

I’m a pediatric nurse at Hadassah, and from what I’ve seen, breastfeeding is much more accepted among Moslems than among Jewish Israelis. The custom of co-sleeping helps encourage nursing mothers to continue nursing, often for the full 2 years, as does the fact that the Moslem mothers are much less likely to take an “all or nothing” approach to breastfeeding. They may supplement with an occasional bottle, especially when the baby is with another female relative, but they are also far more likely to continue nursing after having introduced solid food.

I would also say that Arab Moslem women in Israel are most likely to avail themselves of vaccinations at the Tipat Chalav well-baby clinics here.