(submitted photo/Elicia Munro)
support for moms

MLTC and Onion Lake Cree Nation producing comprehensive video for breastfeeding mothers

Jul 31, 2020 | 3:16 PM

The Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) health team, in partnership with Onion Lake Cree Nation Health, are creating a support video for breastfeeding mothers.

The video currently under production will offer women Indigenous representation through health material and support mothers and families.

Tammy Shakotko, educator and MLTC community dietitian said there are not many comprehensive visual tools available to support breastfeeding mothers.

“We’ve found, in Canada and in the province, there aren’t a lot of tools available to women to support breastfeeding mothers visually,” Shakotko told meadowlakeNOW. “We thought it wold be important to create a video tool to help women better access better visual tools to help them in their breastfeeding journey with their infants.”

Both groups are working together to collect Elder stories to learn about more traditional aspects of breastfeeding. The video will also focus on individual journeys of mothers with infants, fathers and partners, women, and support people. To date, health care providers recorded offering messages of technical aspects of breastfeeding including hand expression.

“The support that women receive when they’re trying to breastfeed is just as important as the technical aspects,” Shakotko said. “The stories of women will be a key aspect to the videos and that’s what we’re trying to collect now.”

(submitted photo/Elicia Munro)

Fathers and partners are encouraged to participate in the project. Support people could include a partner, an elder, a supportive family member, and aunt or a friend.

“It’s important that women feel supported in society, in the workplace, by families and their community and each woman’s needs are different will look different.” Shakotko said. “We need to support women with what they need to feed their babies comfortably and that may be providing a private space and that may also look like accepting women who need to feed their baby whenever and wherever.”

Jolene Gramlich, licensed practical nurse (LPN) and clinic coordinator with the Onion Lake Health Board said the way to break through stigma about breastfeeding is by seeing it. The more people who do breastfeed and the more who have success, the more infants will benefit from it. According to First Droplets, inadequate breast milk intake is the number one reason newborn babies need hospitalization.

“We can’t expect people to breastfeed if we have no support for them or tools to give them,” she said.

Additional benefits of breastfeeding include skin to skin connection with the mother and father by offering many immune and hormonal development benefits. Gramlich said every mother’s success in feeding their baby looks different, and wants to ensure all women feel supported whether they choose to breastfeed or not.

Gramlich is also a team leader with international organization La Leche League which provides support to families with newborns. More information can be found here. More Milk Sooner also offers additional support and instructions for families.

Filming will take place this weekend (Aug. 1 to 2) on Flying Dust First Nation. Additional information can be found by contacting MLTC Health at (306) 236-8240.

Filming at Onion Lake Cree Nation will take place Aug. 14. To participate, call (306) 344-2330.

Precautionary pandemic measures will be in place for both filming cycles.

nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722

View Comments