Dr. Chinny Obinwanne: Launching Nigeria’s First Breast Milk Bank 

The 2022 theme for World Breastfeeding Week is ‘Step up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support’, and it seeks to involve governments, communities, and individuals in raising awareness about sustainable breastfeeding environment. Chiemelie Ezeobi spoke with Dr. Chinny Obinwanne, a medical doctor, lactation consultant, member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and founder of The Milk Booster, a company that produces lactation products that help increase breast milk supply. She also founded The Breastfeeding Doc, which is a company that provides evidence-based knowledge for healthcare professionals and breastfeeding mothers and has since gone on to expand the Milk Booster brand to cater for pregnancy, breastfeeding and weaning essentials.  In this interview, Obinwanne emphasises the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, how she started the brand in 2017 to help herself get through exclusive breastfeeding and now aiding 50,000 babies get more breast milk from their mother, and why she decided to launch Nigeria’s first ever Milk Bank to provide pasteurised donor breastmilk for pre-term, low birthweight, and other vulnerable infants access to the multiple benefits of breastmilk when they need it most

You have been in the lactation business for some years now, how has the journey been?

It’s been an amazing journey because I’ve gone from helping myself get through exclusive breastfeeding to helping 50,000 babies get more breast milk from their mothers. The challenge has been having the capacity to reach out to more mothers that need our help because it still hurts me when a mum comes to me and says “I wish I knew you earlier”.

How do you balance work-life and family, especially with how demanding both spheres are? 

There is really no balance. I try to face it all everyday. Also, each morning I go through my to-do list and work on it based on priorities. Somedays, I achieve all my to do list, other days it rolls over.

Having followed your breastfeeding journey, how were you able to breastfeed two babies at the same time and any advice for others who want to try it out? 

Yes, I breastfed my one year old while i was pregnant. I found out I was pregnant, shortly after he turned one year and my aim was to breastfeed him till two years. I breastfed him throughout the pregnancy and continued after my baby was born until he turned two years but he was still not ready to stop, so  I continued to breastfeed him until my baby turned one. 

Breastfeeding during pregnancy is completely safe as long as it is a healthy pregnancy. Although you can face challenges such as sore nipples, applying nipple cream can help with that, also some women do feel minor contractions that goes away when they stop nursing. Another thing mothers worry about is that the new baby will not have any colostrum but that is not true. 

During pregnancy your breastmilk composition changes and the volume reduces, once your baby is born your breast will naturally produce colostrum, so your baby is not going to miss out on it, for some mums that are extremely worried about this, they can also save one breast one month before their expected date of delivery.

Can you take us back on the journey of how the business of producing lactation products came about? 

It all started after I had my first child. As a medical doctor, I really wanted to breastfeed exclusively for six months and did not know people had breastfeeding challenges. I expected a natural and easy going breastfeeding experience. I was shocked when I started struggling with breastfeeding  after having my  baby. 

From nipple pain to a fussy baby and low breast milk supply. I had taken all sorts of  things to increase my supply without any result. I remember a specific day when my baby cried all day and my husband couldn’t take it any longer. So he threatened to go to the store to get infant formula. Knowing that I have always wished to do exclusive breastfeeding, that broke me and I asked my husband to give me 24 hours. 

I spent that time researching on how to increase my breast milk supply and I ended up baking lactation cookies. I ate so much of it that day and within that same 24 hours, I noticed my breast milk was flowing, and leaking everywhere. My baby that was constantly crying before nursed and was full. For the first time she slept peacefully. It was like I got a brand new baby. My husband saw the changes and was shocked as well. So I was able to achieve my dream of breastfeeding exclusively for six months. 

Then I started sharing the cookies with my colleagues that were new mums. With that we started manufacturing and we have helped thousands of mothers achieve exclusive breastfeeding with our breastfeeding products.

What services do you offer as a company and to whom? 

We are focused on improving breast milk supply for nursing mothers to ensure that every baby is well nourished. We provide lactation support and one on one  consultations for pregnant and breastfeeding women, we also provide free antenatal classes, how to birth like a boss class, how to introduce solids to your baby and breastfeeding classes. 

Currently, we are launching the first breast milk bank in Nigeria and we would be providing pasteurized donor breastmilk for babies. We have a breastfeeding support line that is accessible for all new mums.

The World Breastfeeding Week is almost here and you have marked it for some years now, looking back, how successful was it?

It’s been quite successful, even with lack of funding from sponsors. We continue to celebrate World Breastfeeding week because the goal has always been to encourage more mothers to breastfeed their babies and increase Nigeria’s rate of exclusive breastfeeding.

Are there any new lessons you would want nursing mothers to grab this year? The theme for this years world breastfeeding week is “Step up for breastfeeding: Educate and Support” So, we are encouraging mothers, educating them on new up to date breastfeeding practices and letting them know we are always here to support them. It’s important for mothers to know that extended breastfeeding is up to two years as AAP (American Academy of Paediatrics) has updated their guidelines from one year to two years confirming WHO(World Health Organisation) standard.

Isn’t it time Nigeria gets a Milk Bank, same way we have the blood Bank? 

Yes it is. Having a milk bank would give pre-term, low birthweight, and other vulnerable infants access to the multiple benefits of breastmilk when they need it most. It would enable infants that don’t have access to mother’s own milk to be able to enjoy the same benefits that infants that have access to mother’s own milk enjoy. 

Studies have shown that premature babies that get donor milk get to stay in the hospital for a shorter period of time, it has also shown that donor breastmilk reduces  the risk of getting Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) and other diseases that leads to neonatal mortality. Yes, it is about time Nigeria gets a Milk Bank as the country with the highest infant mortality rate in Africa, and the third highest rate of premature birth around the world, it is about time.

If they do, will it thrive given that most mothers might not subscribe to giving their babies another person’s milk?

Yes, if Nigeria has a Milk Bank it will thrive because there is ongoing informal sharing of breastmilk(mothers sharing milk that hasn’t been pasteurised amongst themselves) within our Breastfeeding community. 

I have also witnessed time and time again mothers of premature babies reaching out to our community, seeking for mothers to donate breast milk for them. Having done research over the years i’ve found that, Nigerian mothers that can produce breastmilk for their babies are happy to donate and Nigerian mothers that have premature babies are happy to accept donor breastmilk.

Along the line, you unveiled the breastfeeding doc, how far with that brand?

The breastfeeding doc is a platform for breastfeeding resources for mothers and healthcare practitioners. I basically teach about breastfeeding and I provide one on one consultation for mothers facing breastfeeding challenges and for surrogate and adopted mothers that want to produce breastmilk for their babies. My recent  work has been teaching a group of lactation consultants in USA. Speaking at The Baby Show in the UK. Also, i launched my breastfeeding book, “Breastfeeding with Ease”. A book that covers everything a pregnant and nursing mother needs to know about breastfeeding.

You also started your own brand of products beyond the cookies, what influenced that?

I started these as a means of making life easier for all breastfeeding mums. The fact that I’ve given them breastfeeding cookies to increase their breastmilk supply wasn’t enough, some of them needed to resume work after three months and need good breastpump like our master pump that can be worn in the bra and discrete for them to be able to maintain their demand and produce enough milk for their babies. I also wanted to provide affordable items for mums as most items in the market were expensive, so really it’s all about just making life easier for mothers. 

According to statistics, improper feeding accounts for about 40 percent of child deaths. What do you think hinders nursing mothers from exclusively breastfeeding their babies? First off, its due to lack of adequate breastfeeding knowledge, we invest a lot of time educating mums on labour and delivery which will last 24 hours at most and then we spend the barest minimum on educating mothers about breastfeeding that should last for six months exclusive and two years extended.

 Secondly, with the promotion and marketing of infant formulas, we’ve been conditioned to offer infant formula as the next best solution to any mum struggling with breastfeeding as there are a lot of misconceptions about formula being equivalent to breast milk, returning to work and accessing supportive childcare and policies by big organisations and the government. 

Many people are unaware of effective products to boost breastmilk that really works. Another reason we have this statistics is because there have not been any Breast Milk Bank in Nigeria where babies can get donor milk, finally we are launching the first Breast Milk Bank in Nigeria.

Some women are of the opinion that promoting exclusive breastfeeding is merely a way to shame those mothers who can’t afford to. What is your take on this?

I am very biased to this because i do not believe that any mother that wants to breastfeed her baby cannot do so. I agree there are breastfeeding challenges but there are also solutions available. It may not be the easiest but we stick through it because of the importance of it to our baby’s well being. I’ve come to find that many mothers that ended up giving formula did that because they lacked adequate breastfeeding knowledge and support. 

Once they are armed with the right knowledge they are always determined to get it right with their next baby. Knowing that the gap of knowledge is the reason mothers end up giving their babies formula, it is vital to keep pushing breastfeeding knowledge adequately and consistently so that they don’t fall into the formula trap. So really we are not shaming other mothers, we are just equipping mothers to do better.

What are some of the challenges you face as an entrepreneur?

Compared to other countries, Nigeria can stiffen your growth as a business. The lack of constant power supply, lack of funds to increase your business capacity, lack of support from regulatory bodies, running a business in a volatile economy, but we keep pushing everyday, we are hopeful for a better Nigeria. 

What is your core strategy for sustaining your legacy? 

Developing a strong structure with the future in mind, documenting every process and procedure, creating innovative structure and diversifying different streams of income to the brand. 

What policy changes would you advise the authorities to make in order to create more awareness on the gains of breastfeeding?

 The Nigeria system needs to incorporate a complete paid six months maternity leave for all mothers, they need to get organisations to provide a comfortable space for mothers  for example a lactation room and a creche, the government should provide a free one month breastfeeding class for expectant mothers with continued support after baby is here, the government can also provide free breastfeeding training for nurses and doctors and they can increase media awareness on breastfeeding.

What are the benefits of support systems for nursing mothers?

When a nursing mum has a good support system she is able to focus more on breastfeeding which is a demanding job,a support system helps a mum rest, sleep when baby is sleeping, to cheer her on when the going gets tough. All of these will help her have an easier breastfeeding experience and it’s going to help prevent postpartum depression,  anxiety, sadness and feeling disconnected from her baby and finally help her achieve her breastfeeding goals.

Quotes

Having a milk bank would give pre-term, low birthweight, and other vulnerable infants access to the multiple benefits of breastmilk when they need it most. It would enable infants that don’t have access to mother’s own milk to be able to enjoy the same benefits that infants that have access to mother’s own milk enjoy