3D Breast feeding questionnaire

This questionnaire can be used as a test or self-test on breast-feeding.

1. What foods are good for a mother who is breast-feeding?

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2. When a mother who is breast-feeding eats enough food, her baby gets enough food. Why?

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3. Can you think of any foods that mothers in your community do not eat when they are breast-feeding?

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4. It is cheaper to buy food for a mother than to buy milk for her baby. Why?

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5. What is the best kind of milk for a baby?

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6. What should a mother do so that she can breast-feed her baby better?

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7. How often should a mother breast-feed her baby?

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8. What should a mother in your community do if she thinks she does not have enough breast milk?

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9. How can a mother know whether her baby is getting enough breast milk?

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Answers to the breast-feeding questionnaire

1. A breast-feeding mother should eat more than one kind of food. Any soups, stews or relishes that the family eats are good for her. She also needs the cereal or staple food of the community (for example rice or maize), and some peas or beans (or a food from an animal, for example eggs, milk, fish or chicken). She should also eat vegetables, especially those that have dark green leaves, or that are yellow or orange. She should eat fruits too.

2. When a mother eats enough food, her body makes enough breast milk for her baby. This means that the baby gets enough food.

3. This will be different in different communities or countries.

At your next training session discuss which foods are good for mothers to eat. Make a list of the foods that are grown or are available in your community.

4. It is usually much cheaper to buy more food for the mother than to buy tins of milk for the baby.

Find out the cost of the foods that grow locally, and the cost of foods sold in the market. Also find out the cost of tinned baby milk. Work out how much it would cost for a mother to eat more food while she is breast-feeding. Chose a period of six months to do the calculation. A mother needs to eat about 1 1/2 times what she would normally eat. Work out how much it would cost to buy enough milk to keep the baby healthy and growing for six months.

5. A mother's breast milk is the best food for her newborn baby. The baby needs love and care to grow up healthy and strong. Breast-feeding shows that the mother loves and cares for her baby. A mother should breast-feed her baby from the day he or she is born.

The breast milk produced in the first few days after the baby is born is special. This milk may be different from the milk that comes later. It is sometimes yellow in colour. A mother should feed this special milk to her baby. This special milk protects her baby from many illnesses.

6. A mother should prepare herself for breast-feeding before her baby is born. A mother should look after her nipples especially if they are flat. She should gently rub them and pull them to make them stand out so that her baby can suck well. Breast-feeding is easy if the mother takes good care of her breasts.

A mother should be especially careful to keep her breasts clean when she is breast-feeding to make sure that dirt does not get into the baby's mouth. Then the baby will not get sick. Also when a mother keeps her breasts clean, her breasts and nipples are much less likely to get sore and painful, so she will be able to breast-feed easily.

7. A mother should breast-feed her baby six or seven times a day, whenever the baby is hungry.

8. If she thinks she does not have enough breast milk, a mother should eat more food. She should also drink lots of fluids. Plenty of food and drink will help a mother's body make more milk for her baby. She should also try to rest more.

Sometimes a mother thinks she does not have enough breast milk. But she may have enough milk for her baby as long as she breast-feeds the baby often. When a mother breast-feeds her baby often, the mother's body makes more milk.

9. If a baby is getting enough breast milk, he or she will be satisfied and sleep well after feeding. The baby will urinate several times each day. A baby who is not feeding enough will cry often.

A baby who is getting enough breast milk will grow well. A mother should take her baby to the health centre every month. There the health worker will check to see whether the baby is growing well.