The era of posthumanism is shaped by test tube babies, cyborgs and the pregnant man. Recently, Donald Trump, the US President, tweeted that women should have the option of formula to tackle malnutrition and poverty.
This is surprising because all over the world, there is a massive campaign for breastfeeding and the tweet clearly shows Trump’s stance. Though Trump’s tweet is being criticised closer home in India where the breastfeeding rates are quite shocking.
As C-section deliveries continue to rise, the number of children being breastfed continue to fall in the country. As per a report prepared by the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) and Public Health Resource Network (PHRN) in 2016, India ranks lowest among South Asian countries with regard to breastfeeding practices.
In particular, the report highlights that only 44 percent of women are able to breastfeed their infants within an hour of their delivery. India ranks lower than Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in breastfeeding practices.
As women find it difficult to breastfeed their baby immediately after the delivery, in most hospitals infants are introduced to formula milk for the first few days. This makes them dependent on formula milk and later the baby finds it difficult to adapt to breastfeeding. Consequently, most mothers continue to rely on formula milk for their infants.