JP/Ika KrismantariThe path to success can start from failure, as the founder and chairwoman of the Indonesian Breastfeeding Mothers Association (AIMI), Mia Sutanto, proves.
Mia, who established the country’s largest support group for breastfeeding mothers, said she started the organization after being unable to breastfeed of her first child.
She did not breastfeed her daughter exclusively because the hospital forced her to give her child formula immediately after she was born. Mia also gave her child food when she was 5 months old, even though babies should only be fed after reaching six months of age.
Mia added that she stopped breastfeeding her baby at 10 months.
“I was sick and the doctor did not allow me to breastfeed my child. So when I recovered, my daughter did not want my milk anymore,” she said, recalling the heartbreaking moment.
This was all because of a lack of information and education about breastfeeding, the mother of two said.
But instead of giving up, this failure encouraged the woman, who doesn’t have a medical background, to find out more about breast-feeding.
She enrolled in a training program on lactation held by the Indonesian Breastfeeding Center in early 2007 in the hopes of not repeating the same mistake should she have another child.
Armed with sufficient information, Mia started to share her knowledge with other mothers and became active on the “Asi for Baby” mailing list, answering questions from new breastfeeding mothers.
Mia and a few friends then initiated the establishment of AIMI to spread information about breastfeeding to young mothers in April of 2007.
“Most people see [AIMI members] as mothers who have succeeded in breastfeeding, AIMI was actually pioneered by mothers who failed at providing breast milk,” Mia told The Jakarta Post.
“That failure didn’t make us give up, become pessimistic or develop low self-esteem. It pushed us to find out more about the mistakes we made so we can fix them in the future,” she said.
Mia proved that with her second child. She breastfed her daughter until she was two years and 10 months old.
“Everything that went wrong with breastfeeding happened with my first child, but everything that went right with breastfeeding happened with my second child,” the mother of 7-year-old Mikaila Fayza Sharifa Sutanto and three-year-old Aleisha Noor Malika Sutanto said.
Apart from that triumph, Mia has succeeded in developing AIMI, turning it into a large organization focusing on promoting breastfeeding exclusively for babies in their first six months and, when possible, until two years of age.
Started with only 22 people in Jakarta, AIMI currently has more than 1,000 members in Jakarta, West Java, Central Java and East Java.
“This November we plan to open a new branch in North Sumatra and in December in North Sulawesi,” Mia said.
The AIMI chairwoman for the 2007-2011 period said the foundation had a target to open two or three offices in new cities every year.
AIMI has also become an organization that has strong influence on policy makers.
Mia proudly shared the story of how AIMI persuaded legislators not to include an article that allowed the consumption of formula milk in the newly passed Health Law.
“We lobbied them intensively and when the law was passed, the article was not there anymore,” the law graduate said, admitting that her legal background had helped with the advocacy process.
Yet, the hard work hasn’t ended there. Mia and her friends in AIMI are still striving to get a government decree issued that will require companies to provide breastfeeding support facilities in offices.
“We are stuck in the Trade Ministry,” Mia said, blaming people’s ignorance about the importance of breastfeeding.
Not many people know that breastfeeding is not only good for babies but that it also benefits mothers because it can prevent cervical cancer. There are also benefits for families because there are no formula expenses if a mother breastfeeds exclusively.
“These mothers make healthy babies. That means companies spend less on insurance,” the 37-year-old said.
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