INDONESIA: Breast milk couriers help Indonesian mothers juggle work and breastfeeding their children

Record ID: 796081

  • Title: INDONESIA: Breast milk couriers help Indonesian mothers juggle work and breastfeeding their children
  • Date: 16th January 2012
  • Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (JANUARY 13, 2011) (REUTERS) BUILDINGS IN JAKARTA WOMEN WALKING ON STREET WORKING MOTHER FEBY KEMALA DEWI MEETING COURIER VARIOUS OF BREAST MILK IN BOTTLES BEING PUT INTO BOX (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) WORKING MOTHER FEBBY KEMALA DEWI SAYING: "This breast milk courier is a solution in this situation. I have to work but at the same time I can still feed my baby." VARIOUS OF DEWI WORKING PHOTO OF DEWI'S, BABY VARIOUS OF COURIER RIDING MOTORCYCLE COURIER HANDING BOTTLE TO DEWI'S MOTHER VARIOUS OF DEWI'S MOTHER POURING MILK INTO BOTTLE
  • Embargoed: 31st January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia, Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA7J8Z46NJU4MLJDHOW7JHA1YQ
  • Story Text: As more Indonesian working mothers seek to juggle work and looking after their children, a special courier service seeks to alleviate some of that stress.
    Febby Kemala Dewi, 29, returned to work after a three-month maternity leave and the new mum did not want to give up breastfeeding her baby.
    She used to pump the breast milk before she left in the morning.
    However, her eight-month old daughter Ashalina Putri needed 1 to 1.5 litres per day but she could only produce less than 500 ml in the morning.
    One of her co-workers introduced her to a breast-milk courier service which helps transport milk to her baby at home.
    "This breast-milk courier is a solution in this situation. I have to work but at the same time I can still feed my baby," said Dewi.
    The breast milk courier comes to pick up the bottles at her office in the city centre at around lunch time and delivers it to Dewi's mother who looks after the baby. The trip takes 45 minutes to an hour.
    Fikri Nauval, 40, owner of Arga Nirwana Express said he started the service based on his own experience.
    In 2010, his wife, who had to return to work, used one of his motorcycle staff to deliver her breast milk to their three month-old baby at home.
    Nauval charges customers IDR 30,000 ($3.30 U.S. Dollars) to IDR 40,000 ($4.40 U.S. Doallrs) per delivery.
    He said he believed breast milk gives babies nutrients that could not be replaced by powdered milk.
    "So, I would like to help this nation build a better generation by helping working mothers deliver their breast milk to their babies at home," Nauval said.
    Indonesia is currently struggling to encourage mothers to breast-feed their newborn babies as breastfeeding rates in the country continues to fall.
    "According to Indonesian Health and Demographic Survey, women who breast-feed decreased to 38 percent in 2007. So the number of mothers who breast-feed her children has sharply decreased," said Yulianto Santoso Kuniawan, a paediatrician who is also a consultant in breastfeeding.
    Kurniawan said most of mothers received literature promoting benefits of formula or free samples of formula but hospitals also need to inform mothers that formula milk does not provide the same immunity.
    "With this counselling, I can see mothers showing a bigger interest in breast-feeding their children," said Kurniawan.
    Currently, the number of working women in Indonesia is 40 million.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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