In our workshops with women, part of our discussion revolved around ways of feeding newborn babies and the kinds of support available.
"...they taught us about a type of a device which was in about 50-60 years ago or so, about how people used to use it in England and what they are using now. There was a milk boiler, a milk pump ... and the milk boiler, bottle feed. And, in Afghanistan, it is like when the pregnant lady’s baby is born, they won’t breastfeed it in the hospital. When they go home, after 30 days, they wash the nipples and wait until the milk runs out."
"When the milk comes out, they collect the excess milk ... the milk which is there ... the first time the milk comes out ... they throw away the aureus with it which means that the milk is clean now and they can breastfeed the baby. Only after this, they’d breastfeed the baby. What’s more, when the girl feels pain, no one would help her; they’d just give her paracetamol, or her mum or sister would give her a hand in breastfeeding the baby, they’d help her in a way. So, this was the breastfeeding part of women giving birth."